F 

591 
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BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

•o- 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


THE  GOLDEN  WESTj 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF 
THE  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES 
OF  THE  PACIFIC  SLOPE 


"  The  men  who  got  gold  in  '49  were 
the  men  who  heard  it  was  to  be  had 
and  who  went  West  and  got  it." 


ISSUED     B  Y     TH  E 

LNorth  British  &  Mercantile  Insurance  Company  . 

76   WILLIAM   STREET,    NEW   YORK 


MAY,    1911 


INTRODUCTION 


Hn 


HE  year  1809  was  distinguished  by  the  birth  of  Lincoln, 
Darwin,  Gladstone,  Tennyson  and  Mendelssohn,  and  also 
by  the  organization  in  Edinburgh,  of  the  North  British 
Insurance  Company.  Its  first  President  was  George,  then 
Marquis  of  Huntly,  and  afterward  the  fifth  and  last  Duke 
of  Gordon.  The  Edinburgh  Evening  Courant  of  April  1  7th,  1 809,  con- 
tained the  first  announcement  of  the  enterprise  and  explained  that  "a 
number  of  respectable  gentlemen  and  merchants  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  have  resolved  to  establish  in  Edinburgh  a  company  on  a  liberal 
and  national  basis  under  the  name  of  the 

NORTH   BRITISH   INSURANCE  COMPANY, 

which  may  include  not  only  most  of  the  opulent  and  enterprising  merchants 
and  capitalists  throughout  Scotland,  but  also  a  considerable  part  of  the 
landed  interest  who  are  so  much  interested  in  retaining  their  floating  capital 
within  the  country  for  its  own  improvement." 

The  first  heading  for  the  company's  policies  was  made  by  the  famous 
wood  engraver,  Thomas  Bewick. 

The  premiums  for  1809  were  £2,149,  and  in  one  loss  in  Glasgow 
the  Company  paid  £6,464,  "it  appearing  that  the  fire  was  occasioned 
by  a  squib  or  rocket  entering  a  window  on  the  roof  of  the  building 
and  communicating  inflammation  to  cotton  goods  of  various  de- 
scriptions which  were  therein  deposited."  The  company  has  since  paid  for 
fire  losses  exceeding  $170,000,000. 

In  1832  a  Branch  Office  was  opened  in  London,  and  in  1861  the 
business  was  extended  to  India,  the  colonies  and  foreign  countries,  and  an 
agency  was  established  in  Canada,  which  developed  into  the  Montreal 
Branch. 

In  1 862  a  merger  was  effected  with  the  Mercantile  Fire  Insurance 
Company  of  London,  and  the  company  became  the 

NORTH  BRITISH  AND  MERCANTILE  INSURANCE 
COMPANY 

with  head  offices  in  Edinburgh  and  London. 

In  1866  the  Company  commenced  business  in  the  new  world  by 
opening  its  UNITED  STATES  BRANCH  office  at  No.  74  Wall 
Street,  New  York  City,  and  appointed  as  its  first  manager  Mr.  Ezra 
White.  Mr.  White  was  succeeded  in  1876  by  Charles  E.  White  and 


Samuel  P.  Blagden,  associate  managers;  Mr.  White  retiring  in  1887. 
In  1894  Mr.  Blagden  was  succeeded  by  Henry  E.  Bowers  and  upon 
his  resignation,  January  1,  1900,  Ellis  G.  Richards  was  appointed  United 
States  manager  in  his  place,  which  position  he  now  holds. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  BRANCH  OFFICE 

is  located  at  76  William  Street,  New  York  City,  where  the  business  of 
the  Company  for  the  United  States,  including  the  Territory  of  Hawaii,  is 
handled  in  seven  Departments,  viz:  the  Metropolitan  (New  York);  Mid- 
dle; New  England  and  Southern;  Central;  Western;  Pacific,  and  Im- 
proved Risks. 

The  Pacific  Department   (formerly  located  in  San  Francisco)   is  in 
charge  of  W.  S.  Berdan,  General  Agent. 

The  original  promoters  of  the  Company  (which  does  both  life  and 
fire  insurance  business)  builded  better  than  they  knew.  At  the  close  of 
its  first  year  its  total  funds  were  about  £20,000.  They  now  amount  to 
more  than  $  1 00,000,000.  The  company's  business  is  worldwide,  with 
agencies  in  the  United  Kingdom,  Germany,  Austria,  and  elsewhere  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe;  the  United  States,  South  America,  Canada, 
China,  India,  Japan,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  South  Africa,  and,  in  fact, 
throughout  the  globe. 

On  the  threshold  of  the  second  century  of  its  existence  the  Company 
looks  forward  with  confidence,  feeling  that  its  record  merits  a  continued 
and  increasing  success. 

In  presenting  the  second  installment  of  "The  Golden  West"  a  few 
words  of  explanation  are  due  our  readers. 

No  originality  is  claimed  for  this  publication  further  than  the  idea. 
We  have  freely  borrowed  from  many  sources  with  the  intention  of  giving 
in  a  condensed  form  some  facts  connected  with  the  early  settlement  and 
development  of  the  country  comprised  in  our  Pacific  Department,  which 
we  hope  may  prove  of  interest  and  value. 

This  booklet,  however,  is  not  designed  solely  from  a  historic  stand- 
point, nor  does  it  aim  to  merely  point  a  prophetic  finger  to  the  richest  "land 
of  opportunity"  in  the  world.  It  has  the  further  end  in  view  of  reminding 
property  owners  of  the  merits  of  the 

NORTH  BRITISH  AND  MERCANTILE  INSURANCE 
COMPANY, 

which  has  been  in  existence  over  one  hundred  years,  and  has  a  most  hon- 
orable and  convincing  record  throughout  the  world  and  especially  in  the 
country  we  are  writing  about. 

THE  EDITOR. 


Look  now  abroad — another  race  has  filled 

These  populous  borders — wide  the  wood  recedes, 
And  towns  shoot  up,  and  fertile  realms  are  tilled; 

The  land  is  full  of  harvests  and  green  meads ; 
Streams  numberless,  that  many  a  fountain  feeds, 

Shine,  disembowered,  and  give  to  sun  and  breeze 
Their  virgin  waters;  the  full  region  leads 

New  colonies  forth,  that  toward  the  western  seas 

Spread,  like  a  rapid  flame,  among  the  autumnal  trees. 
*  *  *  9  « 

Here  the  free  spirit  of  mankind,  at  length, 

Throws  its  last  fetters  off;  and  who  shall  place 
A  limit  to  the  giant's  unchained  strength, 

Or  curb  his  swiftness  in  the  forward  race? 
#  #  «  *  * 

— Bryant. 


THE  GOLDEN  WEST 

In  1 843  Daniel  Webster  opposed  a  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a 
mail  route  through  what  was  then  styled  the  "Great  American  Desert," 
and  in  a  speech  delivered  in  the  United  States  Senate  referred  to  the  country 
beyond  the  Missouri  River  as  "a  vast  and  worthless  area,  a  region  of  sav- 
ages and  wild  beasts,"  and  alluded  to  the  Pacific  Coast  region  as  "a  coast 
of  three  thousand  miles,  rockbound,  cheerless,  uninviting."  The  "Web- 
slerian  Desert"  has  since  disappeared,  and  populous  cities  flourish  where 
waste  places  met  Fremont  and  others  in  their  early  journeys.  Forests  have 
sprung  up  where  barren  stretches  met  the  view,  and  along  the  Pacific  Coast 
the  beauties  and  productiveness  of  Spain  and  Italy  have  been  more  than 
reproduced.  Irrigation  with  governmental  aid  is  opening  up  great  tracts 
for  prospective  settlers.  The  man  who  first  led  a  stream  of  water 
upon  the  arid  lands  in  the  fruit  country  opened  up  wealth  greater  than  the 
pioneer  gold  seekers,  which  is  enriching  a  far  more  numerous  and  diverse 
population.  Irrigation  work  in  the  Western  States  is  being  done  on  a  gigan- 
tic scale,  as  indicated  by  the  government  projects  alone,  which  will  involve 
an  outlay  of  over  $70,000,000.  The  conditions  there  are  ideal,  the  choice 
broad,  the  opportunities  numerous.  As  soon  as  the  irrigation  plans  are 
completed  there  will  be  room  in  this  zone  of  development  for  a  vast 
population. 

That  this  conclusion  is  warranted  will,  we  believe,  be  evident  after 
a  perusal  of  the  summary  of  the  growth  and  prospects  of  our  western  country, 
given  in  the  following  pages. 


ALASKA 

When  the  United  States  in  1867,  through  the  foresight  of  Secretary 
of  State  William  H.  Seward,  purchased  Alaska  for  $7,200,000,  we 
secured  not  only  a  very  large  section  of  territory  but  a  country  which  is  an 
empire  in  itself  (only  lacking  in  people)  and  is  proving  immensely  rich 
in  varied  resources.  In  gold  alone  over  $  1  60,000,000  have  been  extracted 
since  1880,  and  recent  investigations  in  the  Innoke  district,  the  central 
Kuskokwim  Valley,  and  the  new  Haiditarod  District,  now  partially  finished 
by  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  disclose  new  placer  gold  districts 
which  promise  heavy  returns.  The  agents  of  the  Survey  have  discovered 
placers  on  the  small  streams  in  areas  which  are  drained  into  the  lower  Yukon 
and  the  lower  Kuskokwim,  proving  that  the  formations  of  the  upper  Yukon 
belts  extend  much  farther  southwest  than  had  generally  been  supposed. 
The  value  of  copper,  coal  and  other  minerals  aside  from  gold  is  almost 
beyond  estimation.  Alaska  covers  590,884  square  miles,  and  is  now  known 
to  be  the  richest  territory  as  yet  undeveloped  on  this  continent.  Within 
its  borders  could  be  placed  the  following  twenty  States  of  the  Union:  Con- 
necticut, Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Indiana,  Maine,  Maryland,  Mas- 
sachusetts, New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  North  Carolina, 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  South  Carolina,  Vermont,  Virginia, 
West  Virginia  and  Wisconsin.  Its  area  is  about  equal  to  that  of  France, 
Germany,  Italy,  Portugal  and  Switzerland. 

It  is  one-fifth  the  size  of  the  entire  United  States;  is  fourteen  times  as 
large  as  New  York  State;  has  one-fifth  of  our  coal,  the  only  tin  mines  in 
this  country,  and  18,000  miles  of  dredging  ground.  It  has  4,750  miles  of 
coast  line,  and  with  a  white  population  of  but  65,000  its  total  trade  in 
1 909  was  over  sixty  millions. 

Nearly  200  miles  have  already  been  completed  of  the  Copper  River  and 
Northwestern  Railroad  which  extends  from  tidewater  at  Cordova  through 
the  Copper  River  Valley  to  Copperfield  near  the  Chitini  River  and  the 
Behring  Lake  coal  fields. 

The  Geological  Survey  in  one  of  their  recent  reports  give  it  as  their 
estimate  that  there  are  sixteen  billion  tons  of  coal  in  the  known  coal  areas 
of  Alaska,  with  vast  amounts  in  regions  yet  unexplored  in  that  territory. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  deposits  of  coal  on  the  Matamuska  River  are  worth 
as  much  as  those  on  the  Behring  River,  and  that  a  conservative  estimate 
is  that  these  two  fields  alone  are  worth  over  two  billions  of  dollars.  In  addi- 


tion  to  these  there  are  many  more  valuable  coal  fields  the  area  of  which  is 
estimated  at  12,867  square  miles  by  the  Geological  Survey. 

A  San  Francisco  newspaper  remarks:  "It  is  estimated  that  Alaska  has 
sixteen  billion  tons  of  coal  in  sight,  but  with  her  climate  it  is  hardly  more 
than  she  needs".  The  fact  is,  that  Alaska  has  a  better  average  climate 
than  is  generally  understood,  and  more  arable  ground  than  Sweden,  Norway 
and  Finland,  which  have  a  population  of  ten  millions. 

There  is  said  to  be  enough  hay  going  to  waste  each  year  in  the  unculti- 
vated valleys  of  southeastern  Alaska  to  feed  all  of  the  cattle  in  Montana 
and  Texas  combined. 

The  gold  product  in  1909  was  about  $19,000,000,  and  was  only 
exceeded  in  the  United  States  by  Colorado. 

On  Kenai  Peninsula,  along  the  line  of  the  70  mile  Alaska  Central  Rail- 
road, there  are  many  thousands  of  acres  of  poplar  and  spruce  available  as 
pulp  wood  of  a  high  quality.  Alaska  contains  millions  of  acres  of  good 
grazing  and  farming  land.  There  is  a  total  area  of  about  2,500  square 
miles  along  the  western  edge  of  Kenai  Peninsula  alone,  bordering  Cook 
Inlet,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  probably  available  for  grazing  and  tillage. 
The  Knix  Arm  region,  Matanuska  Valley  to  the  eastward,  the  Yentna 
to  the  westward  and  the  main  Sushitna  Valley  and  smaller  tributaries 
running  northward  far  into  the  interior,  may  also  be  roughly  estimated  at 
about  2,500  square  miles  of  available  tillage  lands,  but  will  probably 
exceed  that  amount  considerably. 

Observations  of  tides  by  the  United  States  Survey  ship  McArthur  in 
Turnagain  Bay  and  Knix  Arm,  Cook  Inlet,  Alaska,  show  what  are  prob- 
ably the  second  highest  in  the  world,  of  thirty  feet  variation  and  a  tidal  cur- 
rent of  eight  knots.  The  only  tides  which  are  known  to  exceed  this  record 
are  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 

The  Alaskan  purchase  in  present  and  prospective  value  is  second 
only  to  the  bargain  secured  by  the  United  States  in  1 803  through  the  fore- 
sight of  President  Thomas  Jefferson,  when  the  great  tract  of  land  known  as 
the  country  of  Louisiana  was  acquired  from  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  then 
First  Consul  of  France,  for  fifteen  million  dollars.  This  vast  domain  with 
an  area  of  more  than  a  million  square  miles  included  the  region  in  which 
now  lie  the  States  of  Arkansas,  a  part  of  Colorado  and  Idaho,  North  and 
South  Dakota,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Louisiana,  Missouri,  Montana,  Nebraska, 
and  Wyoming. 

Exclusive  of  Indians,  at  that  time  the  entire  population  of  the  region  was 
barely  90,000,  of  whom  40,000  were  negro  slaves. 

There  was  strong  opposition  to  this  purchase  in  New  England,  where 
there  was  bitter  feeling  against  President  Jefferson,  the  prime  mover  in  this 


matter.  On  July  31.  1803,  the  U.  S.  Senate  formally  ratified  the  agreement 
between  the  two  governments.  The  value  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  must 
now  be  reckoned  in  billions. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  archaeological  discovery  made  on  the  north 
coast  of  Alaska  has  a  relation  to  the  present  methods  of  personal  decoration 
of  the  natives  of  Alaska,  the  significant  feature  of  which  is  the  wearing  of 
lip-buttons,  or  labrets,  by  the  men,  but  strangely  enough,  not  by  women.  The 
present  custom  is,  that  when  a  boy  is  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  holes 
are  pierced  in  his  lower  lip,  one  below  each  corner  of  his  mouth.  A  small 
wooden  plug  is  at  first  inserted  to  keep  the  opening  from  growing  together, 
and  month  by  month  a  bigger  and  bigger  plug  is  used,  till  finally  the  openings 
are  half  an  inch  in  diameter.  At  this  point  the  young  man  begins  to  wear 
stone  or  ivory  plugs.  These  ornaments  are  put  in  from  the  inside,  ordinarily 
as  one  might  insert  a  button  into  a  shirt  front.  Usually  the  two  buttons  worn 
are  each  of  a  different  sort,  while  sometimes  only  one  of  the  holes  is  filled, 
and  in  summer  men  are  occasionally  met  who  wear  no  buttons  at  all.  When 
a  visitor  is  seen  approaching,  however,  the  ornaments  are  always  inserted,  for 
they  do  not  feel  dressed  without  them.  In  preparing  for  sleep  they  are 
usually  removed. 

The  Coast  region  has  much  rain  and  snow,  but  an  equable  temperature, 
and  the  winter  at  Sitka  is  no  colder  than  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  snow- 
fall at  Valdez  has  reached  60  feet,  and  the  rainfall  at  Sitka  1  1  1  inches  in  a 
season.  In  the  Yukon  basin  it  is  very  cold  in  the  winter,  although  the  summer 
temperature  may  reach  90  degrees  Fahrenheit  in  the  shade.  The  rainfall 
is  small.  The  soil  is  permanently  frozen  for  several  yards  below  the  surface, 
but  a  thin  surface  layer  thaws  out  every  summer.  The  tundra  region  about 
Nome  has  a  still  different  climate,  more  severe  than  that  of  the  interior. 
There  the  marshy  lands,  interspersed  with  ponds  and  lakes,  have  few 
grasses,  but  on  the  hills  and  gravelly  knolls  there  is  a  greater  variety  of 
grasses  than  in  the  interior. 

Much  of  Alaska  (formerly  known  as  Unalaska)  has  a  good  climate  and 
productive  soil.  In  the  southwestern  part  the  climate  is  similar  to  that  of 
New  York,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin.  On  the  southeastern  coast 
it  is  rainy  with  a  moderate  temperature.  Central  Alaska  will  be  the  greater 
agricultural  country.  Roadmaking,  however,  will  be  required  on  a  large 
scale,  as  in  nearly  600,000  square  miles  Alaska  has  only  400  miles  of 
wagon  roads. 

But  one  per  cent,  of  the  territory  has  been  thoroughly  surveyed.  The 
four  great  resources  of  this  section  are  minerals,  agriculture,  fish  and  timber. 
The  salmon  fisheries  produce  annually  about  $  1 0,000,000,  and  next  in 
importance  are  the  halibut  fisheries,  the  annual  product  of  which  is  nearly 


6,000,000  pounds,  nearly  all  of  which  is  marketed  as  fresh  fish.  Next 
are  the  cod  fisheries,  nearly  equal  in  extent  to  the  halibut.  The  timber,  while 
not  comparable  to  the  extensive  forests  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  is  still  of 
great  importance.  The  forest  reserves  cover  an  aggregate  area  of  over 
26,000,000  acres.  Nearly  every  cannery  and  mine  in  southeastern  Alaska 
has  its  own  sawmill. 

The  Navy  Department  will  soon  establish  two  additional  wireless  stations 
on  the  southern  coast  of  Alaska.  They  will  be  located  at  Unalaska,  one  of  the 
Aleutian  Islands,  and  at  Kodiak,  which  is  south  of  the  Peninsula. 
The  erection  later  of  a  wireless  station  on  the  Hawaiian  Island  of  Oahu  is 
contemplated.  An  effort  will  then  be  made  to  establish  wireless  commu- 
nication between  Alaska  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

Alaska's  population  as  given  by  the  last  census  was  64,353.  It  is  a  coun- 
try which  should  grow  rapidly  with  the  development  of  its  resources. 


10 


ARIZONA 

Arizona,  with  113,020  square  miles  of  territory,  is  larger  than  Italy; 
has  a  greater  area  than  New  York  and  all  New  England,  and  is  larger 
than  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  New  Jersey  combined.  All 
the  farms  of  Rhode  Island  could  be  put  in  one  of  its  irrigated  valleys.  It 
has  an  unbroken  forest  larger  than  the  State  of  Indiana.  The  200  miles 
that  the  Colorado  River  plunges  through  the  Grand  Canon  make  up  the 
world's  greatest  power  producer. 

This  region  was  known  to  Spanish  explorers  as  early  as  1  526,  when  Don 
Jose  de  Vasconcellos,  a  follower  of  Cortez,  crossed  the  center  of  this  terri- 
tory towards  the  great  Canon.  He  found  on  the  river  banks  ruins  of  cities 
which  seemed  to  have  existed  for  centuries.  These,  with  regular  fortifica- 
tions, reservoirs,  canals  and  walls  of  solid  masonry,  usually  two  stories  in 
height,  show  that  the  country  was  once  inhabited  by  an  enterprising  and 
cultivated  people.  It  is  estimated  that  fully  100,000  must  have  inhabited 
the  Valley  of  the  Gila  alone. 

The  next  Spanish  Expedition  was  that  of  Marcos  de  Niza,  a  Fran- 
ciscan priest,  on  or  about  May  9,  1  539.  He  was  accompanied  and  guided 
by  a  negro  slave,  Estavanico,  who  was  one  of  the  survivors  of  the  expedition 
of  De  Narvaez  to  the  northern  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  in  1  528.  Es- 
tavanico and  his  master,  Dorantes,  and  Castillo  Maldonado,  made  up  the 
forlorn  party  led  by  Cabeza  de  Vaca  across  Texas  and  northern  Mexico  to 
the  Spanish  settlement  at  Culiacan,  where  they  arrived  in  April,  1536,  after 
great  suffering  and  one  of  the  most  remarkable  journeys  recorded  in  history. 

The  tales  told  by  these  men,  of  rich  cities  and  a  thickly  peopled  country 
to  the  northward,  excited  great  interest  among  the  Spanish  leaders  in  Mex- 
ico and  it  was  hoped  and  believed  that  another  Peru  waited  there  to  yield 
its  wealth  to  those  who  came  first.  It  was  these  stories  which  inspired  Mar- 
cos de  Niza  to  undertake  the  expedition  which  led  to  the  discovery  of 
Arizona. 

Don  Antonio  de  Mendoza,  "the  good  viceroy"  of  new  Spain,  out- 
fitted this  expedition,  which  consisted  of  De  Niza  and  a  brother  priest,  Ono- 
rato;  the  negro,  Estavanico,  whom  Mendoza  had  bought  from  his  master, 
Dorantes,  and  who  was  particularly  valuable  because  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  Indian  life;  a  group  of  Indians  who  had  been  kept  at  Culiacan  till  they 
understood  some  Spanish  and  were  useful  as  interpreters,  and  many  Indians 
who  followed  from  village  to  village  as  the  expedition  moved  northward. 

Estavanico  made  himself  objectionable  to  the  Indians  and  on  the  21st 

II 


of  May  news  came  to  Marcos  that  his  guide  had  been  killed  at  one  of  the 
cities  of  Cibola.  Without  him  De  Niza  could  not  continue  his  explora- 
tions, but  he  went  to  the  top  of  a  small  hill  from  which  he  saw  the  city  of 
Cibola,  which  he  reported  to  be  larger  than  the  City  of  Mexico  and  the  land 
the  best  and  largest  yet  discovered. 

His  report  was  so  favorable  that  Viceroy  Mendoza  outfitted  a  large  ex- 
pedition of  Spanish  gentlemen  and  soldiers,  mounted  and  on  foot,  with  several 
hundred  Indians,  under  the  command  of  Francisco  Coronado,  to  seek  out  the 
new  land  and  the  wealth  of  Cibola.  Coronado's  expedition  started  north- 
ward on  February  23,  1  540.  In  the  latter  part  of  May  he  entered  Arizona, 
following  a  river  which  he  called  Nexpa,  either  the  Santa  Cruz  or  the  San 
Pedro. 

On  July  7,  1  540,  Coronado  reached  one  of  the  Zuni  pueblos  of  New 
Mexico  and  soon  realized  that  there  were  no  gold  and  gems  to  be  found  in 
the  land  of  Cibola. 

About  the  middle  of  July,  1  540,  Coronado  sent  Don  Pedro  de  Tovar 
with  a  small  troop  of  horsemen  and  footmen  to  find  a  group  of  cities  to  the 
westward,  similar  to  Cibola.  He  found  the  Moqui  towns  of  northeastern 
Arizona.  Hearing  of  a  great  river  and  mighty  people  farther  westward, 
Tovar  sent  Don  Garcia  de  Cardenas  to  look  over  that  country.  He  reached 
the  brink  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  and  brought  back  a  report 
of  the  great  river  and  of  the  absence  of  people  of  any  sort. 

July  8,  1539,  Francisco  de  Ulloa  sailed  from  Acapulco  to  explore  the 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  California  for  Cortez.  He  reached  the  head  of  the 
gulf  but  did  not  explore  far  enough  to  find  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado 
river. 

May  9,  1  540,  Hernando  de  Alarcon  sailed  from  Acapulco  to  explore 
the  coast  in  cooperation  with  Coronado's  land  expedition.  In  August  he 
reached  the  sand  shoals  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California,  where  Ulloa 
had  turned  back,  and  exploring  among  them  he  found  the  mouth  of  a  large 
and  swift  river  which  he  entered  on  Thursday,  August  26th,  and  which  he 
named  the  Buena  Guia. 

In  September,  1  540,  Coronado  left  some  seventy  or  eighty  of  his  men 
in  the  valley  of  Corazones  under  command  of  Melchoir  Diaz.  With  twenty- 
five  of  the  strongest  Diaz  explored  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  California  and 
found  the  Colorado  River,  which  he  named  the  Rio  del  Tizon,  or  Fire- 
brand, because  of  the  way  he  saw  the  Indians  of  the  vicinity  using  firebrands 
to  warm  themselves. 

Following  Coronado's  marches  the  more  important  Spanish  expeditions 
were  directed  to  New  Mexico,  rather  than  to  Arizona;  but  the  region 
south  of  the  Gila  River  was  well  known  to  and  frequently  visited  by  both 

12 


Jesuit  and  Franciscan  missionaries  and,  eventually,  permanent  missions  were 
established  in  the  region  which  was  known  as  Pimeria  Alta. 

Arizona  formed  a  part  of  Mexico  until  its  purchase  by  the  United  States 
in  1850.  It  was  organized  into  a  territory  by  Act  of  Congress,  February 
24,  1  863,  with  its  area  described  as  comprising  all  the  United  Stales  lands 
west  of  longitude  109°  to  the  California  line.  The  population  then  was 
6,500.  Since  then  the  northwest  corner  has  been  ceded  to  Nevada.  It  is 
a  mountainous  region  and  some  of  its  area  is  still  unexplored. 

To  one  of  the  pioneer  explorers  of  the  Arizona  region  the  Zuni  Indians 
gave  the  following  account  of  their  origin  as  preserved  in  their  traditions: 

Their  legend  relates  that  in  the  beginning  a  race  of  men  sprang  out  of  the 
earth  as  plants  arise  and  come  forth  in  the  Spring.  This  race  increased  until 
they  spread  over  the  whole  earth,  and  after  continuing  through  countless 
ages  passed  away.  The  earth  then  remained  without  people  a  great  length 
of  time  until  at  length  the  sun  had  compassion  on  the  earth  and  sent  a  celes- 
tial maiden  to  re-people  the  globe.  This  young  goddess  was  called  Arizonia, 
signifying  "Maiden  Queen,"  who  in  time  blessed  the  earth  with  twins,  son 
and  daughter,  and  they  became  the  father  and  mother  of  the  Zuni  Indians, 
and  from  this  tribe  arose  all  other  races  of  men  as  offshoots  from  this  original 
tribe,  the  Zuni  Indians  being  the  only  pure,  original  stock. 

The  first  officials  of  Arizona  were  appointed  by  President  Lincoln.  Not 
one  of  them  had  ever  seen  the  country,  and  as  there  were  no  railroads  they 
outfitted  with  wagons  and  traveled  westward  in  true  pioneer  style.  On  De- 
cember 29,  1 863,  being  sure  that  they  had  crossed  the  western  line  of  New 
Mexico  into  Arizona,  they  stopped  at  Navajo  Springs  and  the  government 
was  formally  organized  in  a  wilderness  unpeopled  except  by  Indians. 

The  capital  of  Arizona  was  temporarily  located  by  proclamation  of  the 
governor  at  a  military  post  which  had  been  established  only  a  month  before 
in  Chino  Valley,  about  20  miles  from  the  present  city  of  Prescott.  The 
governor's  party  reached  this  place  in  January,  and  in  May  the  post,  named 
Fort  Whipple,  was  removed  to  the  present  site  on  Granite  Creek,  and  the 
capital  went  with  it.  The  fort  was  moved  because  rich  placer  diggings  had 
been  found  in  the  region  and  it  was  desired  to  protect  the  miners  from  In- 
dian raids.  A  town  was  laid  out  a  mile  up  the  creek  from  the  fort  and  was 
named  Prescott  in  honor  of  the  great  historian.  The  name  was  selected  by 
Richard  McCormick,  secretary  to  the  governor,  and  later  second  governoi 
of  Arizona.  The  streets  of  Prescott  were  named  for  Spanish  explorers  of 
Mexico  and  the  Southwest. 

The  first  silver  mining  in  Arizona  by  Americans  was  undertaken  by 
Charles  D.  Poston,  Sylvester  Mowry,  and  others  in  the  Santa  Rita  and 
adjacent  mountains.  This  silver  was  run  into  crude  bars  at  the  mines  and 

13 


some  of  it  was  shipped  by  way  of  San  Francisco  to  China,  where  a  profit- 
able advance  upon  the  American  price  was  realized.  It  was  made  into 
Chinese  and  other  Asiatic  coins. 

The  early  placer  gold  diggings  of  Arizona  were  extremely  rich,  thousands 
of  dollars  being  taken  out  in  a  few  days.  The  most  famous  were  La  Paz, 
near  the  Colorado  River  (where  an  adobe  town  of  several  thousand  inhabi- 
tants sprang  up  like  a  mushroom,  to  be  abandoned  when  the  diggings  were 
worked  out),  Weaver,  Rich  Hill,  and  Lynx  Creek. 

Prospecting  in  northern  Arizona  soon  developed  valuable  quartz  mines, 
both  gold  and  silver.  The  first  very  rich  gold  mine  to  be  worked  was  the 
Vulture,  named  for  the  large  king  vulture  which  is  only  found  in  that  vicin- 
ity and  in  South  America,  and  which  has  been  likened  to  the  condor,  al- 
though smaller.  The  Vulture  is  said  to  have  yielded  $20,000,000,  but 
as  "high-grading"  was  carried  on,  its  true  yield  will  never  be  known.  It  is 
again  being  worked  after  many  years  of  idleness  and  promises  to  be  as  rich 
as  of  old. 

The  most  famous  silver  mines  in  northern  Arizona  were  the  Peck,  which 
yielded  many  tons  of  almost  pure  silver,  and  the  Tip  Top.  Other  mining 
districts  were  Big  Bug  and  Bumblebee.  In  a  canon  near  the  former  a  nug- 
get worth  over  $700  was  picked  up  by  a  Mexican. 

Nuggets  of  pure  silver  have  also  been  found  at  other  points  in  Arizona, 
notably  near  the  city  of  Globe,  which  is  now  in  the  heart  of  one  of  the 
richest  copper  mining  regions.  Copper  was  not  sought  by  the  first  prospec- 
tors in  Arizona,  as  the  methods  of  working  the  ore  were  then  too  expensive 
to  permit  a  profit.  Arizona  contains  some  of  the  largest  copper  mines  in 
the  world  and  has  ranked  first  among  the  copper  producing  States  in  the 
Union. 

Six  of  the  important  cities  of  Arizona  have  been  directly  built  up  by 
great  copper  mines;  Jerome,  by  the  United  Verde,  in  Yavapai  County; 
Douglas  and  Bisbee,  in  Cochise  County,  by  the  great  Copper  Queen  re- 
gion; Clifton  and  Morenci,  in  Graham  County,  and  Globe  in  Gila  County. 
The  total  mineral  production  in  1909  was  $43,000,000.  The  first  rail- 
road in  Arizona  was  built  for  the  Clifton  mines ;  it  was  a  very  narrow  gauge 
and  the  engine  was  hauled  several  hundred  miles  on  a  freight  wagon. 
On  some  of  the  early  runs  the  Apache  Indians  tried  to  lasso  the  smokestack 
and  pull  the  little  engine  off  the  track. 

The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  River,  unequaled  in  the  world  for 
grandeur  and  picturesque  beauty,  lies  wholly  within  Arizona.  It  is  over 
200  miles  long  and  in  some  places  is  more  than  a  mile  deep.  It  was  ex- 
plored by  Major  Powell  in  1 869.  Before  his  party  passed  through  the 
canon  others  had  attempted  to  explore  it  from  below.  In  1  858  Lieut.  Ives 

14 


ascended  the  river  in  a  small  steamboat  to  the  mouth  of  the  canon,  and  in 
1864  Octavius  D.  Gass,  a  member  of  the  early  legislatures  of  Arizona, 
tried  to  prospect  and  explore  the  lower  canon.  Major  Powell  made  a 
second  trip  which  added  much  to  the  scientific  knowledge  of  the  region. 

The  country  lying  north  of  the  Grand  Canon  is  one  of  the  richest  parts 
of  Arizona,  containing  many  mines  and  much  forest  and  grazing  land.  Lee's 
Ferry  on  the  Colorado  River  was  established  by  John  D.  Lee,  who  was  con- 
victed and  executed  for  participation  in  the  Mountain  Meadow  Massacre. 

Arizona  contains  in  the  Mogollon  Forest  one  of  the  largest  unbroken 
bodies  of  timber  in  the  world.  It  consists  chiefly  of  pine,  which  yields  a 
fine  grade  of  lumber.  In  this  forest  is  a  volcanic  area  of  recent  date  as 
weird  and  remarkable  as  the  lava  fields  of  Iceland. 

The  prehistoric  cliffs  and  cave  dwellings  of  Arizona  were  discovered  by 
the  earliest  explorers,  and  the  Casa  Grande,  a  great  pueblo  dwelling  men- 
tioned by  the  Spanish  explorers,  has  recently  been  excavated  by  the  Bureau 
of  Ethnology  and  shown  to  be  of  great  extent.  It  stands  in  the  desert  near 
the  city  of  Florence,  a  few  miles  from  the  Southern  Pacific  railroad. 

Phoenix,  the  present  capital  of  Arizona,  was  so  named  because  it  is 
built  in  a  valley  which  is  filled  with  remains  of  a  prehistoric  people,  with 
canals  still  clearly  outlined,  ruins  of  buildings  similar  to  the  Casa  Grande, 
and  stone  implements  and  other  objects.  The  name  was  given  by  Darrell 
Duppa,  an  English  gentleman  of  scholarly  tastes,  who  recalled  the  oriental 
story  of  the  phoenix  bird  which,  after  living  several  hundred  years,  built  and 
lighted  its  own  funeral  pyre  from  the  ashes  of  which  a  new  phoenix  ap- 
peared. Phoenix  is  surrounded  by  an  irrigated  section  of  extensive  area 
in  a  high  state  of  development.  The  completion  of  the  New  Roosevelt 
Dam  insures  an  abundant  supply  of  water.  The  ostrich  industry  is  becom- 
ing an  important  factor  in  this  immediate  vicinity  Many  of  the  canals  which 
bring  water  to  irrigate  the  country  around  Phoenix  follow  the  course  of  the 
ditches  built  by  an  unknown  people. 

Mesa,  in  the  Salt  River  Valley,  about  twenty  miles  from  Phoenix,  was 
settled  by  Mormon  colonists,  who  dug  canals  and  developed  the  first  suc- 
cessful farms  in  the  region.  Near  it  is  the  "City  of  the  Dead,"  a  prehistoric 
pueblo  mound  excavated  by  Frank  Cushing,  noted  for  his  work  among  the 
Zuni  Indians  of  New  Mexico. 

Yuma,  on  the  Colorado  River,  was  the  site  of  an  early  ferry  where,  during 
the  gold  rush  to  California,  thousands  of  people  crossed  the  great  stream. 
It  is  now  of  special  importance  because  of  the  Laguna  Dam,  a  huge  weir 
which  diverts  the  waters  of  the  river  to  irrigate  thousands  of  acres  of  the  rich- 
est land  in  the  West.  Yuma  has  a  semi-tropical  climate,  and  produces  or- 
anges and  lemons  of  rare  quality. 

IS 


Navajo  and  Apache  Counties  were  named  for  Arizona's  two  most  pow- 
erful Indian  tribes.  The  earliest  settlers  were  Mormon  colonists  from  Utah, 
who  built  canals  and  established  prosperous  farms  in  the  small  but  fertile 
valleys.  These  counties  contain  the  finest  and  most  extensive  cliff  ruins  in 
Arizona,  and  pictured  rocks  on  which  an  ancient  people  have  left  a  fantastic 
record  to  which  no  one  has  yet  found  a  key. 

The  Moqui  villages,  among  the  attractions  in  this  region,  were  the  com- 
munal homes  of  an  Indian  people,  who  centuries  ago  retired  to  this  desert 
region  and  built  their  strange  dwellings  high  on  almost  inaccessible  cliffs. 
The  snake  dance  and  the  corn  dance,  which  take  place  on  alternate  years 
at  these  villages,  have  attracted  many  tourists  and  scientific  observers. 

The  petrified  forests  are  in  these  counties;  large  areas  strewn  with  giant 
tree  trunks  turned  to  richly  colored,  agatized  stone. 

Arizona  contains  all  of  one  and  part  of  another  of  the  government  irriga- 
tion projects.  The  Tonto  Basin  Storage  reservoir  is  about  seventy  miles 
from  Phoenix  and  lies  in  a  rugged  valley  which  was  a  favorite  stronghold 
of  the  Apache  Indians,  and  which  contains  some  fine  cliff  dwellings.  The 
Laguna  project,  about  twelve  miles  above  Yuma,  will  water  land  both  in 
California  and  in  Arizona. 

Arizona  contains  the  largest  body  of  farming  land  between  Kansas  and 
California,  and  these  and  other  private  irrigation  projects  insure  its  rapid 
development.  It  offers  all  altitudes  from  near  sea  level  to  1 2,000  feet  above, 
and  a  variety  of  climates  from  cold  and  temperate  to  semi-tropical. 

Mohave  County  was  one  of  the  four  original  counties  of  Arizona.  It  is 
the  home  of  the  Mohave  Indians  and  of  the  Wollapais  (properly  Hualpais), 
a  smaller  band  of  Indians  of  mixed  stock,  who  gave  efficient  aid  to  General 
Crook  in  his  Apache  campaigns.  The  Wollapais  are  wonderful  trailers  and 
can  follow  a  man  or  animal  for  days  by  clues  the  keenest  white  man  would 
miss. 

Mohave  is  one  of  the  richest  mining  sections  of  Arizona  and  contains 
some  of  the  oldest  mining  towns,  among  them  Mineral  Park,  which  was  once 
the  county  seat,  and  after  years  of  desertion  is  now  prosperous  and  growing. 
Kingman,  the  largest  city  of  Mohave  County,  was  once  a  cattle  town,  but 
is  now  a  rich  mining  center. 

Flagstaff,  in  the  heart  of  the  Mogollon  Forest,  was  so  named  from  a  tall 
pine  tree  trimmed  up  and  used  as  a  flag  pole  by  one  of  the  first  parties  to 
camp  on  the  site.  Near  it  are  strange  ice  caves  of  unknown  extent  and  a 
cliff  village,  numbering  hundreds  of  cave  houses.  Flagstaff  is  the  scene  of 
a  great  saw  mill  and  lumber  industry,  and  near  it  many  thousands  of 
ties  were  cut  for  the  building  of  the  Atlantic  &  Pacific  Railroad.  This  line, 

16 


now  the  Santa  Fe  Pacific,  still  draws  many  of  its  ties  from  the  Flagstaff 
forests. 

The  only  Mission  which  has  survived  to  the  present  day  is  that  of  San 
Xavier  del  Bac,  nine  miles  south  of  the  city  of  Tucson.  This  building  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  specimens  of  early  Spanish  architecture  in  the 
United  States.  Its  interior  decoration,  elaborate  and  intricate  in  the  extreme, 
is  still  wonderfully  preserved.  The  building  itself  has  recently  been  restored 
and  the  walls  strengthened  and  safeguarded. 

The  city  of  Tucson  is  the  oldest  in  Arizona  and  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting in  the  United  States.  It  was  originally  surrounded  by  a  high  adobe 
wall  to  insure  protection  against  the  hostile  Indians  and  was  garrisoned  by 
Spanish,  and  later  by  Mexican,  troops.  It  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
United  States  by  the  Gadsden  purchase  of  1853.  The  Carnegie  Institute 
of  Washington,  D.  C.  (endowed  with  25  millions),  has  its  Department  of 
Botanical  Research  located  here  with  laboratories,  shops  and  a  reservation 
of  land  and  reservoirs. 

Arizona's  population,  as  given  by  the  new  census,  was  204,345,  a  gain 
of  66.2  per  cent,  in  ten  years. 


CALIFORNIA 

Motto  of  California,  "Eureka" — "I  have  found  it." 

In  1534  Cortez  sent  Hernando  de  Grijalva  on  an  errand  of  discovery 
to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  he  probably  saw  the  Peninsula  of  California. 
Twenty-five  years  before  a  romance  was  published  in  Spain  in  which  are 
described  the  doings  of  a  pagan  Queen  of  Amazons  who  brought  from  the 
"right  hand  of  the  Indies"  her  allies  to  assist  the  infidels  in  their  attack  upon 
Constantinople.  The  romance  was  entitled,  "Esplandian,"  the  name  of  an 
imaginary  Greek  emperor  living  in  Stamboul,  the  Turkish  name  of  Con- 
stantinople. The  Amazonian  Queen,  whose  kingdom  was  rich  in  gold,  dia- 
monds and  pearls,  was  called  California.  The  author  probably  derived  the 
name  from  Calif,  the  title  of  a  successor  of  Mohamed.  The  author  says: 
"Know  that  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Indies  there  is  an  Island  called  Cali- 
fornia, very  close  to  the  Terrestrial  Paradise,  and  it  is  peopled  by  black 
women  without  any  man  amongst  them,  for  they  live  in  the  fashion  of  the 
Amazonians.  They  are  of  strong  and  hearty  bodies,  of  ardent  courage  and 
of  great  force.  Their  island  is  the  strongest  in  all  the  world  with  its  steep 
cliffs  and  rocky  shores.  Their  arms  are  all  of  gold  and  so  is  the  harness 
of  the  wild  beasts  which  they  tame  and  ride.  For  in  the  island  there  is  no 
metal  but  gold.  They  live  in  caves  wrought  out  of  the  rocks  with  much 
labor.  They  have  many  ships  with  which  they  sail  to  the  other  countries 
to  obtain  booty." 

Another  suggested  derivation  of  the  State's  name  is  from  the  Spanish 
"Caliente  Fornalla" — "hot  furnace,"  but  is  not  accepted  by  Californians, 
as  it  conveys  a  wrong  idea  of  the  climate. 

Both  Cortez  and  Grijalva  believed  that  they  were  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Coast  of  Asia,  and  as  the  aspect  of  the  country  corresponded  with  the 
description  in  the  romance,  they  named  the  peninsula  California. 

The  first  white  man  who  made  the  overland  trip  to  California  was  Cap- 
tain J.  S.  Smith.  He  left  Salt  Lake,  then  a  trading  post  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Fur  Company,  with  1 5  hunters  and  trappers  on  August  28, 
1  826,  to  find  a  new  country  in  which  to  hunt  and  trap.  Traveling  in  a 
southerly  direction  he  discovered  a  river  which  he  called  the  "Adams,"  now 
known  as  the  "Rio  Virgin";  following  it  to  its  junction  with  the  Colorado. 
He  continued  down  the  latter  until  he  came  to  a  Mohave  village  where 
he  rested  and  then  went  across  the  desert  to  San  Gabriel  Mission  in  De- 
cember, 1  826.  The  arrival  of  an  armed  party  of  Americans  from  across 

18 


the  mountains  alarmed  the  native  Californians  and  the  prospectors  were 
thrown  into  jail,  but  were  soon  liberated  and  then  went  through  the  Cajon 
Pass  into  Tulare  County.  By  the  first  of  May  Captain  Smith  reached  a 
fork  of  the  Sacramento  River  near  where  the  town  of  Folsom  is  now  lo- 
cated, and  established  a  summer  camp  on  the  river  now  known  as  the 
"American  River"  from  that  circumstance.  The  route  taken  by  Captain 
Smith's  party  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  followed  by  overland  emi- 
gration in  later  years. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  a  settled  historical  fact  that  the  first  authenticated 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  (which  excited  no  particular  attention  at  the 
time)  was  made  on  the  San  Francisco  Rancho  in  the  San  Feliciano  Canon, 
Los  Angeles  County  (ten  miles  northwest  of  Newhall  and  about  forty  miles 
northwest  of  Los  Angeles),  on  March  9,  1840,  by  Francisco  Lopes. 
Eight  years  later  Marshall's  discovery  of  gold  on  the  south  fork  of  the 
American  River  in  El  Dorado  County  startled  the  world,  and  during  the 
next  eighteen  months  1  50,000  gold  seekers  arrived  in  California. 

Reverend  Walter  Colton,  while  acting  as  Alcalde  of  Monterey  in  1  846- 
1847,  impaneled  the  first  jury  ever  summoned  in  California.  The  case 
involved  property  on  the  one  side  and  integrity  of  character  on  the  other, 
one-third  of  the  jury  being  Mexican,  one-third  Californians,  and  one-third 
Americans.  A  compromise  verdict  was  given.  One  recovered  property  and 
the  other  his  character.  An  interpreter  was  needed  in  the  trial. 

By  the  defeat  of  the  Mexican  Army  under  Flores  at  the  battles  of  Paso 
de  Bartola  and  La  Mesa,  and  the  capture  of  Los  Angeles  by  Commodore 
Stockton  and  General  Kearny  on  January  10,  1847,  the  transition  was 
made  from  Mexican  to  American  rule. 

The  first  overland  stage  line  was  established  in  1857,  the  route  being 
from  San  Antonio  de  Baxon,  Texas,  to  San  Diego,  California,  via  El  Paso, 
Yuma  and  Tucson.  The  service  was  bi-monthly.  The  first  overland  mail 
left  San  Diego  on  August  9,  1857. 

There  seems  to  be  a  general  misapprehension  among  those  who  have  never 
visited  California  in  reference  to  its  climate.  Not  so  many  years  ago,  when 
Los  Angeles  had  20,000  people,  some  went  so  far  as  to  say:  "There  is 
nothing  to  support  such  a  population  but  climate."  While  of  course  that 
statement  was  a  narrow  one,  it  did  rather  grudgingly  intimate  that  Southern 
California  had  at  least  a  small  asset  in  the  way  of  climate.  Los  Angeles 
now  has  a  population  of  over  300,000,  and  is  quite  likely  within  ten  or 
fifteen  years  to  be  in  the  million  class.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  all 
California  is  alike  in  climate,  for  the  temperature  is  extremely  varied.  South- 
ern California  has  an  all-the-year-round  climate,  and  at  Los  Angeles  the 


[Q 


records  of  the  Weather  Bureau  show  that  trie  thermometer  went  below  32 
degrees  only  6  times  during  1  0  years. 

Extreme  northern  California  has  some  snow  in  winter,  while  San  Fran- 
cisco is  colder  in  summer  than  winter,  with  heavy  clothing  acceptable  in 
August.  The  old  minstrel  description  of  an  appropriate  costume  for  San 
Francisco  was,  "a  linen  duster  trimmed  with  fur." 

Near  the  Arizona  line  it  is  exceedingly  hot  in  summer.  Other  portions  of 
the  State,  and  notably  Southern  California,  have  a  happy  position  between 
these  two  extremes,  and  as  compared  with  Florida  have  the  great  advantage 
of  not  only  a  charming  winter  climate,  but  one  which  allows  outdoor  life 
with  every  comfort  every  day  in  the  year.  Winter  (so-called)  is  not  heralded 
by  driving  snow  or  icy  blasts,  but  by  green  on  the  hillsides  after  the  first 
rain,  and  while  the  mornings  and  evenings  are  cooler,  flowers  are  not  injured 
nor  touched  by  frost.  The  winter  season  is  marked  by  the  rains  which 
come  between  November  and  April,  but  is  really  spring  as  compared  with 
the  East.  The  annual  rainfall  in  the  vicinity  of  Los  Angeles  for  the  past 
25  years  averaged  about  1 6  inches.  Thunder  storms  are  rarely  experienced, 
and  cyclones  are  unknown.  The  average  of  clear  or  partially  clear  days 
through  the  year  is  3 1 6  days.  The  cool  trade  wind  from  the  Pacific  modi- 
fies the  summer  heat,  and  in  winter  there  is  a  warm  return  current  from 
the  south.  The  ocean  temperature  at  Santa  Monica  (near  Los  Angeles) 
in  January  is  61  degrees,  as  compared  with  32  degrees  at  Newport  on  the 
Atlantic  at  the  same  time. 

Consumptives  are  particularly  benefited  by  the  pure,  dry  air.  In  the  entire 
State  of  California  deaths  from  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs  are  less 
than  ten  per  cent.,  of  which  more  than  half  are  imported.  The  proportion 
oi  deaths  from  the  same  causes  in  New  York  are  20  per  cent. ;  24  per  cent, 
in  Michigan,  and  27  per  cent,  in  Maine. 

In  1909  the  value  of  California's  agricultural  and  mineral  products  was 
more  than  $350,000,000,  and  San  Francisco,  as  its  chief  city,  profited 
by  the  enormous  resulting  trade. 

California  is  now  the  world's  greatest  oil  producer.  Its  proven  oil  fields 
already  amount  to  850  square  miles,  with  a  present  annual  production  of 
about  65,000,000  barrels. 

In  Riverside,  since  1904,  9,000  trees  have  been  planted  by  the  city, 
making  34  miles  of  tree-lined  streets,  with  40  feet  between  trees. 

In  Orange  County  are  the  most  extensive  celery  fields  in  the  world,  the 
annual  shipments  being  2,500  carloads,  largely  attributable  to  the  fore- 
sight of  a  commission  merchant  of  Kansas  City,  named  Smeltzer,  who 
went  to  Southern  California  some  1 5  years  ago  to  investigate  the  muck- 
lands  of  Orange  County.  Mr.  Smeltzer  was  a  handler  of  celery,  who 

20 


realized  its  possibilities  and  knew  that  nowhere  in  the  East  were  there 
such  thousands  of  acres  of  this  peculiar  soil  in  one  continuous  tract.  With 
seed  imported  from  France,  an  experimental  acre  was  planted  with  re- 
sults that  exceeded  all  expectation.  There  are  now  in  this  small  county, 
which  borders  on  the  Pacific  ocean,  5,000  acres  of  celery  under  profitable 
cultivation.  The  muck  is  several  feet  deep,  is  jet  black,  and  so  free  from 
grit  that  it  is  nearly  as  fine  as  flour.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  is  such  that 
celery  growers  have  no  fertilizer  bills  to  pay. 

Southern  California  produced  in  1910  about  9,000  tons  of  English 
walnuts. 

One  of  New  York's  leading  merchants  recently  visited  the  Pacific  Coast 
for  the  first  time,  and  on  return  gave  his  impressions  as  follows : 

"I  always  had  the  idea  (possessed,  I  am  afraid,  by  many  mistaken  Amer- 
icans) that  the  Mediterranean  countries,  the  Riviera,  and  the  famous  resorts 
abroad,  surpassed  in  climate  and  natural  beauty  anything  possible  to  be 
seen  anywhere  else,  but  there  is  nothing  to  surpass  the  Grand  Canon  of 
Arizona.  Its  vastness  and  awe-inspiring  character  are  far  beyond  my  power 
to  describe.  There  could  be  nothing  more  impressive  than  the  marvelous 
giant  trees,  nothing  so  pleasing  as  the  beautiful  country  of  California.  And 
the  climate  of  that  far  West,  combined  with  the  ever-varying  scenery,  sinks 
the  Riviera  into  insignificance." 

The  advice  of  Horace  Greeley  is  more  vitally  important  to-day  than 
ever.  The  young  man  who  does  not  fear  work  would  best  take  up  his. 
traps  and  go  west.  The  man  with  enterprise,  earnest  working  capacity 
and  any  energy  wo;rth  while  will  there  find  a  great  field  of  endeavor. 

"The  spirit  of  th  e  West,  a  spirit  that  America  may  well  be  proud  of,  is 
personified  in  the  p  eople  of  San  Francisco.  The  energy,  pluck,  enterprise 
and  go-ahead-ativewesf,  of  these  people  have  built  on  the  ruins  of  old  San 
Francisco  a  bigger  and  more  modern  city  than  ever." 

In  1835,  Rich  ard  H.  Dana,  Jr.,  in  his  "Two  Years  Before  the  Mast," 
referring  to  the  J  Jay  of  San  Francisco,  said:  "If  ever  California  becomes 
a  prosperous  coi  mtry,  this  bay  will  be  the  center  of  its  prosperity."  Here 
is  one  of  the  gr  *atest  harbors  in  the  world,  with  a  tidal  reservoir  of  seventy- 
nine  square  mi'  #$  completely  land-locked. 

ban  rranc  &co  js  the  largest  city  west  of  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  the 
central  port  r  £  ajl  tne  Pacific  seacoast  between  Panama  and  Puget  Sound, 
and  the  gre  Atest  single  trading  and  shipping  point  in  all  the  region  between 
the  Mississ-  ppj  ancj  the  Pacific,  and  between  Canada  and  Mexico,  a  region 
comprisin'  ^  ^,0^  than  two-thirds  the  area  of  the  United  States. 

It  will  fog  vitally  affected  by  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal,  for  it  is 
close  to  ^  jjjje  jj,^,  of  the  gteal;  <orcle  between  Panama-  and  all  Asia.  The 


21 


census  returns  show  that  this  city  has  a  population  416,912,  or  21.6  per 
cent,  more  than  in  1900.  As  a  New  York  paper  aptly  observes:  "In  the 
previous  census  period  the  increase  had  been  only  53,785,  or  14.6  per  cent. 
The  figures  are  the  more  interesting  because  the  period  between  1  890  and 
1900  was  a  'boom'  time  in  California.  Fruit  prices  were  good,  the  country 
flourished,  and  the  city  acquired  a  new  importance  to  the  nation  by  reason 
of  the  increase  of  our  Pacific  trade.  But  the  years  between  1 900  and  1910 
brought  many  evils  to  the  city  by  the  Golden  Gate.  An  earthquake,  a 
destructive  fire,  a  financial  panic,  a  prolonged  strike,  and  a  still  longer  period 
of  civic  dissension  destroyed  property,  hampered  industry,  and  checked 
enterprise. 

"But  San  Francisco  has  grown  more  rapidly  during  the  decade  of  dis- 
aster than  during  the  decade  of  boom.  Evidently  progress  is  not  wholly 
dependent  upon  easy  times.  The  rebuilt,  expanded  and  augmented  city 
stands  as  proof  that  disaster  itself  can  be  turned  to  profit  by  energy  and 
courage.  In  all  human  prosperity  the  master  factor  is  the  human  will." 

The  adjacent  cities  of  Oakland  and  Berkeley  have  increases  of  124.3 
and  206  per  cent.,  respectively,  and  thus  the  metropolitan  area  of  San 
Francisco  has  a  gross  population  well  up  to  650,000. 

Since  the  great  fire  one  of  the  most  extensive  buyers  of  land  in  the  city 
has  been  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  and  its  purpose  is  to  establish  in  the 
business  district  some  of  the  largest  and  most  convenient  terminals  in  the 
country.  Not  less  than  fifty  million  dollars  will  be  thus  invested  by  the  com- 
pany. It  has  bought  many  blocks  and  parts  of  blocks  in  the  heart  of  the  whole- 
sale district.  Surveys  for  the  tracks  and  tunnel  through  a  hill  have  been  com- 
pleted, along  with  plans  for  buildings  for  delivery  and  loading.  A  cut-off  run- 
ning south  from  the  city  and  connecting  with  the  main  line  again  has  cost  nine 
million  dollars.  A  cut-off  into  the  city  crosses  the  upper  arm  of  the  bay  on  a 
long  bridge  and  trestle,  and  covers  a  distance  of  thirty-two  miles,  at  a  cost  of 
three  million  dollars.  An  expensive  short  piece  of  track  with  tunnel,  gives 
a  rail  outlet  to  the  army  docks  to  be  built  by  the  National  Government.  The 
company  has  provided  four  million  dollars  for  this  branch.  It  has  also 
bought  a  large  area  of  water  lots  to  be  filled  in  for  terminal  extensions. 

For  these  improvements  the  company  has  asked  no  gifts  from  the  city, 
and  proposes  no  extra  tolls. 

The  city  is  fortunate  in  its  location  and  surroundings.  It  overlooks  the 
Bay  of  San  Francisco;  in  the  foothills  to  the  west  is  Sausalito;  on  the  left, 
Oakland,  and  on  the  right  is  Berkeley,  the  seat  of  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia, which,  in  addition  to  the  attractions  that  lend  charm  to  a  college 
town,  has  a  residence  section  with  a  natural  adornment  every  day  in  the 
year  of  luxuriant  vines,  foliage  and  green  lawns.  Adjoining  Oakland  is 


Alameda,  in  the  county  of  that  name,  while  directly  across  are  the  uplands, 
dotted  with  villas  and  their  extensive  grounds. 

The  Pueblo  of  Los  Angeles  was  founded  September  4th,  1  789,  and 
was  made  a  Ciudad  (city)  in  May,  1835. 

The  transcontinental  railroad  was  completed  by  a  junction  of  the  lines 
from  the  East  and  the  West  at  -Promontory,  Utah,  May  1 2,  1 869. 
This  was  followed  by  the  completion  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad  system  to 
Los  Angeles,  which  inspired  a  real  estate  boom  in  1886  and  1887.  The 
population  of  Los  Angeles  increased  more  in  these  two  years  than  it  had 
done  before  in  nearly  a  century. 

In  July,  1  909,  by  the  consolidation  of  Wilmington  and  San  Pedro  with 
Los  Angeles,  the  control  of  the  outer  and  inner  harbor  passed  to  Los  Angeles. 

Los  Angeles,  as  shown  by  the  last  census,  has  a  population  of  319,198, 
as  compared  with  102,479  in  1900,  and  50,395  in  1890.  The  increase 
from  1900  to  1910,  therefore,  is  216,719,  or  21  1.5  per  cent.,  compared 
with  an  increase  for  the  preceding  decade  of  52,084,  or  103.4  per  cent. 
The  city  has  risen  from  the  thirty-seventh  position  in  1  900  to  the  seventeenth 
place  in  1910,  and  has  outstripped  such  older  cities  as  Jersey  City,  Kansas 
City,  Indianapolis,  Providence,  Louisville,  Rochester,  St.  Paul  and  Denver. 
This  increase  in  the  last  ten  years  is  the  largest  percentage  of  gain  ever 
shown  by  any  of  the  larger  American  cities.  A  near  approach  to  it  is  that 
of  Chicago  between  1860  and  1870,  when  that  city  rose  from  1  10,000  to 
299,000. 

In  volume  of  building  operations  last  year  Los  Angeles  stood  fourth  in 
the  United  States,  with  values  of  $2 1 ,684, 1  00. 

The  climate  is  agreeable  and  invigorating. 

The  city  has  voted  $23,000,000  in  bonds  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  a 
river  of  water  from  Owens  Valley,  240  miles  distant  in  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains,  4,000  feet  above  sea  level.  This  will  supply  water  for  a  city 
of  a  million,  and  in  addition  will  irrigate  many  thousands  of  acres,  and 
produce  electric  power  of  the  estimated  equivalent  of  1 00,000  horse  power. 

The  first  that  is  known  of  the  city  now  called  Oakland,  was  in  1  786, 
when  a  man  by  the  name  of  Peralta  was  granted  a  tract  of  land  which 
comprised  the  greater  part  of  Alameda  County.  He  gave  this  tract  to  his 
two  sons,  one  of  whom  was  called  Antonio,  and  his  territory  extended  as 
far  as  San  Leandro,  and  in  time  was  called  San  Antonio,  afterwards  Oak- 
land, so-called  from  the  dense  growth  of  oak  trees. 

The  first  actual  settler  was  Moses  Chase.  The  house  that  he  built  in 
the  winter  of  1  849,  then  consisting  of  one  room,  is  now  standing  enlarged 
to  nineteen  rooms,  in  East  Oakland,  and  has  been  occupied  all  of  these  years 
by  members  of  the  Chase  family. 

23 


Three  men — Moon,  Carpentier,  and  Adams — soon  followed  Moses 
Chase,  and  squatted  upon  the  land,  claiming  that  it  belonged  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  not  to  the  Peraltas.  They  laid  out  the  town,  and  were  the  first  to 
attract  public  attention  to  Oakland. 

In  1  852  the  town  was  incorporated  with  a  Board  of  Trustees  composed  of 
five  members:  A.  W.  Burrell,  A.  J.  Moon,  Edison  Adams,  Amedee  Marier 
and  H.  W.  Carpentier.  In  that  year  Carpentier  built  the  first  school  house 
located  at  Fifth  and  Clay  streets,  and  received  for  this  the  Oakland  water 
front,  granted  to  him  by  the  town  trustees  for  37  years.  This  has  been  in 
court  for  many  years,  and  was  recently  decided  in  favor  of  the  city.  In  this 
year  the  first  church,  St.  John's  Episcopal,  was  built,  and  still  occupies 
its  original  site. 

Communication  between  Oakland  and  San  Francisco  was  carried  on  by 
whale  boats,  and  in  1851  the  Court  of  Sessions  granted  a  license  to  Car- 
pentier and  Moon  to  run  a  ferry  from  Contra  Costa,  in  the  township  of 
San  Antonio,  to  San  Francisco,  fixing  the  tariff  for  one  person  at  one  dollar, 
and  for  each  horse  three  dollars. 

In  1 854  the  City  of  Oakland  was  incorporated,  and  Carpentier  was 
elected  first  mayor.  In  that  year  a  fire  department  was  organized,  a  police 
department  established,  and  the  first  newspaper,  "The  Contra  Costa,"  made 
its  appearance. 

In  1855,  a  dry  goods  store  was  opened  at  Broadway  and  Second  street, 
by  a  Mr.  Gallagher,  who  was  also  postmaster. 
In  1  864  the  street  railway  system  was  started. 

In  1  865  the  Oakland  &  Alameda  Water  Company  was  formed,  bring- 
ing water  from  Temescal  Creek. 

In  1  866  great  progress  was  made  in  manufactures,  and  the  City  Hall  was; 
planned  and  built,  but  before  it  was  paid  for  it  was  burned,  and  many 
valuable  papers  pertaining  to  the  ownership  of  the  water  front  were  de- 
stroyed. 

The  University  of  California,  instituted  by  act  of  the  Legislature  of  March 
23d,  1868,  began  instruction  in  Oakland,  September  23d,  1869. 

In  1872  the  county  seat  of  Alameda  County  was  moved  from  Sam 
Leandro  to  Oakland.  The  population  in  1860  was  1,543.  In  1900' 
Oakland  had  a  population  of  66,900.  Its  population  as  given  by  the  last 
census  was  150,174,  an  increase  of  124.3  per  cent.  Its  climate  has  been 
described  as  not  merely  a  comfort,  but  an  asset.  Its  death-rate  is  but  1 0  per 
1 ,000  of  population. 

One  of  the  finest  scenic  railways  in  the  State  is  the  Foothill  Boulevard, 
from  Oakland  to  Hayward,  which  is  I  2  miles  long,  with  a  70  foot  roadway, 
^en-foot  sidewalks,  and  rock  gutters  for  the  entire  distance.  The  Portola 

24 


Automobile  Races,  in  which  all  records  were  broken,  were  held  on  this 
Boulevard. 

Adjoining  Oakland  on  the  north  is  Berkeley,  the  site  of  the  University 
of  California,  where  is  also  located  the  famous  open-air  Greek  Theatre, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  10,000. 

Oakland  has  a  rich  back  country,  as  the  Alameda,  Livermore,  San  Ramon 
and  Moraga  Valleys  pour  their  produce  and  trade  into  the  city.  The 
first  beet  sugar  manufactory  established  in  the  United  States  was  located 
at  Alvarado,  near  Oakland.  California  produces  more  beet  sugar  than  any 
other  State  in  the  Union,  excepting  Colorado. 

Sacramento  (originally  known  as  New  Helvetia)  was  started  in  1 849, 
and  has  been  the  State  capital  since  1854.  It  had  slow  growth  up  to  1900, 
with  a  population  at  that  time  of  but  29,282.  In  1910,  according  to  the 
census,  the  city  increased  to  44,696,  a  gain  of  52.6  per  cent.  It  is  the 
natural  center  of  a  very  rich  fruit  and  agricultural  country  which  is  fast 
being  developed.  Its  resources  entitle  it  to  a  much  greater  advance  in  popula- 
tion. Its  continuous  and  rapid  growth  now  seems  assured. 

Thirty  years  ago  a  few  citizens  of  Indiana  learned  of  the  advantages  of 
climate  and  soil  possessed  by  Southern  California  and  sent  their  agents  to 
spy  out  the  land.  They  reported  favorably  on  the  San  Gabriel  Valley 
and  about  a  dozen  families  from  Indiana  soon  arrived,  purchased  a  large 
tract,  and  this  little  colony  was  the  beginning  of  Pasadena.  It  is  a  city  of 
homes  and  churches  and,  like  Greeley,  Colorado,  has  been  without  saloons 
from  its  start  and  never  missed  them.  There  are  few  other  cities  of  like 
population,  possessing  so  many  beautiful  residences,  with  extensive  grounds 
and  such  a  wealth  of  flowers,  trees  and  vines.  Although  but  twelve  miles 
from  Los  Angeles,  it  declines  annexation,  and  proud  of  its  past,  is  secure 
in  its  present  and  confident  of  its  future.  In  a  generation  it  has  sprung  from 
a  pasture  to  a  city  of  over  30,000.  The  valley  of  which  it  is  a  part  was 
turned  out  by  Nature,  it  is  said;  as  a  sample  of  what  can  be  done  in  the 
way  of  things  beautiful,  and  Pasadena  is  the  "Crown  of  the  Valley."  Ten 
years  ago  its  population  was  9,1  1  7.  The  last  census  give  30,291,  showing 
an  increase  of  252.2  per  cent.  The  charm  of  this  little  city  cannot  be  ex- 
aggerated. Its  climate  has  a  mean  temperature  of  53  in  February  to  72  in 
August,  and  an  annual  rainfall  of  20.29  inches,  as  shown  by  the  records 
of  the  past  25  years.  Cyclones,  earthquakes,  and  tornadoes  are  unknown. 

President  Taft  remarked  of  his  visit  there:  "I  should  like  to  make  my 
home  in  this  favored  section,  where  I  observe  every  element  of  luxury,  and 
that  which  I  am  glad  to  encourage — one  of  the  best  golf  links  in  the 
country." 

San   Diego    (Saint  James),   being  at  the  southernmost  extremity  of  the 

25 


United  States,  has  been  somewhat  overlooked  by  immigrants,  the  majority 
of  whom  seem  to  have  yielded  to  the  seductions  of  other  points  in  Cali- 
fornia farther  north,  and  yet  San  Diego  City  and  County  have  strong  claims 
for  attention.  The  climate  is  even  and  the  city  is  located  overlooking  the 
ocean  and  the  attractive  peninsula  of  Coronado,  which  forms  the  Bay  of 
San  Diego. 

It  is  the  first  port  of  call  on  the  Pacific  in  the  United  States  north  of  the 
Panama  Canal;  is  the  outlet  of  the  Southwest  and  Southern  California  on 
the  Pacific,  and  is  the  farthest  Western  terminus  of  transcontinental  traffic 
by  all  the  Southern  railway  lines.  The  San  Diego  and  Arizona  Railway, 
between  San  Diego  and  Yuma,  will  open  the  most  direct  route  between 
the  Middle  West  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  new  track  of  commerce 
between  Panama  and  the  ports  of  the  Far  East. 

San  Diego  was  the  beginning  of  things  in  that  section  of  what  was  after- 
ward the  United  States.  It  was  here  that  Cabrillo  landed  in  1  54.2.  That 
was  the  discovery  of  California.  Here  Father  Junipero  Serra  in  1  769 
founded  the  first  of  the  California  missions,  which  is  still  standing.  That 
was  the  commencement  of  civilization  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Agriculture 
and  industry  had  their  beginning  at  San  Diego.  It  was  a  permanent  settle- 
ment and  an  organized  community  long  before  any  other  site  had  been 
chosen  for  that  purpose  in  Western  America. 

The  claim  that  San  Diego  has  the  most  even  climate  in  the  United  States 
is  a  large  one,  but  is  said  to  be  based  on  statistics  covering  a  period  of 
sixty  years. 

There  is  a  charm  about  the  city  and  its  surroundings  that  often  changes 
visitors  to  permanent  residents.  Its  population  showed  an  advance  accord- 
ing to  the  census  of  123.6  per  cent.,  increasing  from  17,700  in  1900  to 
39,5  78  in  1910. 

Near  San  Diego  is  the  Sweetwater  Dam,  which  holds  in  reserve  for 
irrigating  purposes  nearly  6,000,000,000  gallons. 

The  lovers  of  outdoor  life  can  find  here  a  wealth  of  flowers  and  vines, 
with  a  great  variety  of  wild  flowers  throughout  the  entire  county. 

Stockton,  the  "Gateway  City,"  as  it  has  been  called,  is  situated  about 
75  miles  east  of  the  Golden  Gate,  at  the  head  of  tidewater  navigation  near 
the  San  Joaquin  River.  It  is  the  distributing  point  of  the  San  Joaquin  Val- 
ley, the  center  of  a  rich  agricultural  district,  a  city  of  many  important  manu- 
factures, and  an  important  railroad  center.  It  is  one  of  the  older  settled 
cities  of  California,  and  its  location  and  resources  of  its  tributary  country 
have  maintained  its  steady  prosperity  and  continued  growth. 

It  has  not  only  an  open  waterway  that  has  been  navigated  for  50  years, 
but  has  four  railways  for  distributing  its  varied  products.  It  has  a  large 

26 


flour  and  grain  trade  and  its  solidity  and  soundness  make  it  a  city  of  which 
Californians  are  justly  proud. 

The  California  Republican  State  Convention  of  1910  adopted  a  reso- 
lution favoring  submission  to  the  votes  of  a  constitutional  amendment  pro- 
viding for  woman  suffrage. 

California's  gain  in  population  from  1900  to  1910  of  892,496  is 
greater  than  that  made  by  any  other  State  excepting  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania, its  advance  from  the  twenty-first  to  the  twelfth  place  ranking  it  now 
with  the  dozen  strongest  and  most  populous  States  of  the  Union. 


COLORADO 

Motto  of  Colorado:  "Nil  sine  numine,"  "Nothing  without  God." 

The  first  American  explorer  to  penetrate  to  the  mountains  of  Colorado 
was  Lieutenant  Zebulon  Pike,  sent  out  with  a  small  party  by  General  Wil- 
kinson in  1  806.  He  approached  within  1  5  miles  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
peak  which  bears  his  name.  A  more  extensive  official  exploration  of  the 
country  was  made  in  1819  by  Major  Stephen  H.  Long,  whose  report  upon 
the  whole  region  drained  by  the  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Platte  Rivers  and 
their  tributaries  was  unfavorable  and  discouraging.  Fremont's  explorations, 
which  touched  Colorado,  were  made  in  1843-1844.  The  only  persons 
encountered  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  Fremont  at  this  time  were  the  few 
remaining  traders  and  their  former  employers  and  colonists,  who  lived  with 
their  Mexican  and  Indian  wives  and  half-breed  children  in  a  primitive  man- 
ner, usually  under  the  protection  of  some  defensive  structure  called  a  fort. 
The  first  Mexican  families  in  Colorado  were  a  part  of  the  Mormon  bat- 
talion of  1  846,  who,  with  their  wives  and  children,  resided  at  Pueblo  from 
September  to  the  spring  and  summer  of  the  following  year,  when  they  joined 
the  Mormon  emigration  to  Salt  Lake.  Measures  were  taken  early  in  March, 
1847,  to  select  locations  for  two  United  States  forts  between  the  Missouri 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  sites  selected  being  those  now  occupied  by 
Kearney  City  and  Laramie.  Up  to  1853  Colorado's  scant  population  still 
lived  in  or  near  some  defensive  establishment  and  had  been  decreasing  rather 
than  increasing  for  the  past  decade,  owing  to  the  hostility  of  the  Indians. 
In  1858  the  first  organized  searching  or  prospecting  for  gold  in  the  region 
was  made  by  a  party  of  Cherokee  Indians  and  whites.  Other  parties  soon 
followed;  the  search  succeeded,  and  the  Pike's  Peak  Mountain  region  was 
speedily  swarming  with  eager  adventurers.  In  the  fall  of  1858  two  rival 
towns  were  laid  out  on  the  opposite  sides  of  Cherry  Creek.  They  were 
named  respectively  Auraria  and  Denver.  The  struggle  for  existence  between 
them  was  bitter,  but  brief.  Auraria  succumbed  and  Denver  survived,  to 
become  the  metropolis  of  the  mountains.  The  first  attempt  at  political  organ- 
ization was  made  at  the  Auraria  settlement  in  November,  1858,  and  took 
the  form  of  a  provisional  territorial  organization,  under  the  name  of  the 
Territory  of  Jefferson,  but  the  provisional  government  did  not  succeed  in 
establishing  its  authority,  opposed  as  it  was  by  conflicting  claims  to  terri- 
torial jurisdiction  on  the  part  of  Utah,  New  Mexico,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and 
Dakota.  At  length  on  the  28th  of  February,  1861,  an  act  of  Congress 

28 


became  law  by  which  the  proposed  new  territory  was  duly  created,  but  not 
bearing  the  name  of  Jefferson.  The  name  of  Colorado  was  given  to  it  on 
the  suggestion  of  the  men  selected  for  its  first  government.  Some  wanted 
it  called  Jefferson,  some  Auraria.  In  consideration  of  the  fact  that  the  people 
had  to  a  great  extent  named  the  States  after  the  great  rivers  of  the  country 
and  the  great  feature  of  that  country  was  the  Colorado  River,  it  was  finally 
decided  to  name  the  district  Colorado.  Remaining  in  the  territorial  condi- 
tion until  July,  1876,  Colorado  was  then  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 

In  1 868  Golden,  with  a  population  of  1 ,000,  was  the  capital  of  Colo- 
rado. Denver  then  had  but  5,000.  The  last  census  gave  its  population 
as  2  1  3,889,  an  increase  of  59.4  per  cent,  in  ten  years. 

The  "Queen  City  of  the  Plains,"  as  Denver  is  appropriately  termed,  has 
an  area  of  60  square  miles,  and  is  situate  1  2  miles  east  of  the  foothills  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  near  the  north  central  part  of  the  State,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Platte  River  and  Cherry  Creek.  The  city  has  grown  in  a  half  cen- 
tury far  beyond  the  dreams  of  its  early  settlers,  and  is  now  thoroughly  mod- 
ern and  progressive.  Its  residence  section  is  exceptionally  attractive.  Frame 
buildings  are  prohibited,  and  consequently  Denver  is  a  city  of  brick  and 
stone.  It  has  nearly  800  factories,  with  an  annual  output  of  over  $75,- 
000,000  in  values;  19  banks,  196  churches,  66  public  schools,  an  ample 
supply  of  mountain  water  and  238  miles  of  improved  streets.  The  State 
Capitol,  a  massive  structure  of  Colorado  granite,  stands  on  the  crest  of  the 
west  slope  of  Capitol  Hill,  one  of  the  finest  residence  sections.  The  grounds 
cover  three  full  squares. 

Denver  is  still  the  metropolis  of  the  mining  region  and  of  a  great  agri- 
cultural and  horticultural  region  as  well.  It  is  the  gateway  of  the  mountain 
scenery  of  the  "Switzerland  of  America,"  as  Colorado  has  been  called, 
and  is  visited  by  more  than  100,000  tourists  annually.  The  altitude 
(5,270  feet)  and  dry  air,  with  sunshine  averaging  345  days  in  the  year, 
give  the  city  a  climate  that  makes  life  worth  living.  The  value  of  its 
new  buildings  and  building  improvements  in  1910  was  $11,319,955. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Grand  River,  midway  between  Denver  and  Salt  Lake 
City,  there  is  now  a  fruit  region  25  miles  long  and  from  three  to  ten  miles 
wide,  with  a  planted  area  of  20,000  acres,  75  per  cent,  of  the  fruit  being 
handled  by  an  association  in  the  same  way  that  California  oranges  and 
lemons  are  sold  through  the  California  Fruit  Exchange. 

Some  of  the  rarest  and  most  valuable  metals  in  the  world  are  found  in 
Colorado,  comprising  tungsten,  tantalum,  molybdenum,  vanadium,  and  ura- 
nium. Until  a  comparatively  short  time  ago  these  rare  metals  were  left  in 
the  dump  heap  at  the  mines,  being  deemed  not  only  valueless,  but  actually 
detrimental  to  the  concentration  of  the  ore  which  was  considered  of  value. 


In  Boulder  County,  Colorado,  the  miners  used  to  throw  away  what  they 
called  "black  jack."  Now  that  they  know  "black  jack"  to  be  wolfenite, 
an  ore  of  tungsten,  they  are  carefully  smelting  the  dump  heaps,  as  tungsten 
is  in  demand  for  incandescent  lamp  filaments,  for  fireproofing  and  for  fixing 
dyes.  Tungsten  steel  is  extremely  tough  and  makes  the  best  compass 
needles. 

Uranium,  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  rare  metals,  which  is  found  in 
Gilpin  County,  was  recognized  as  an  element  in  1  782  by  the  chemist 
Klaproth,  who  named  it  after  the  planet  Uranus.  The  chief  ore  of  uranium 
is  uranite,  commonly  called  pitchblende,  and  from  pitchblende  comes  radium. 

The  completion  of  the  Roosevelt  Tunnel,  draining  the  mines,  is  equiva- 
lent to  the  discovery  of  a  new  Cripple  Creek.  That  camp  has  produced 
about  $300,000,000  in  gold  and  is  still  producing  about  $15,000,000 
from  the  workings  above  the  water  level.  The  Cripple  Creek  mining  dis- 
trict is  a  huge  volcanic  crater  about  three  miles  wide  and  four  miles  long, 
in  which  prior  to  the  completion  of  the  Roosevelt  Tunnel  operations  were 
necessarily  suspended  below  the  old  water  level.  Now  that  the  completion 
of  that  tunnel  insures  their  drainage,  ores  can  be  extracted  which  have  been 
blocked  out  with  an  estimated  value  of  about  $312,000,000. 

Colorado  Springs,  one  of  the  most  attractive  cities  in  Colorado  from  the 
standpoint  of  climate  and  scenic  beauty,  and  noted  for  the  wealth  and  enter- 
prise of  its  citizens  and  for  its  large  proportion  of  handsome  residences, 
increased  its  population  37.9  per  cent,  from  1900  to  1910. 

Leadville,  which  enjoys  the  unique  distinction  of  being  about  two  miles 
above  sea  level,  has  taken  on  new  life  owing  to  a  remarkable  mineral  dis- 
covery. For  the  past  thirty  years  tens  of  thousands  of  tons  of  certain  red, 
brown  and  gray  rock  and  white  crystals  have  been  thrown  upon  the  mine 
dumps  as  worthless.  Mining  experts,  professors  of  mineralogy  and  practical 
mining  men  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe  have  seen  this  stuff,  and  not 
one  of  them  took  the  trouble  to  find  out  what  it  was.  It  has  recently  been 
discovered  that  the  queer-looking  materials  were  carbonate  and  silicate  of 
zinc,  and  at  the  present  time  as  high  as  $20  a  ton  net  is  being  realized  from 
these  ores  taken  from  stopes  30  years  old,  heretofore  regarded  as  of  no  value. 
It  now  seems  probable  that  the  annual  ore  production  of  Leadville  will  soon 
be  increased  from  $9,000,000  to  $1  5,000,000  or  more. 

The  same  political  rights  are  accorded  to  women  and  men  in  Colorado, 
and  both  may  vote  at  elections  on  equal  terms.  Colorado  was  the  second 
State  to  establish  woman  suffrage,  in  1  893,  twenty-four  years  after  Wyom- 
ing made  the  pioneer  record  in  that  line. 

Colorado's  population  increased  48  per  cent,  from  1 900  to  1910.  In 
that  period  Pueblo,  the  "Pittsburgh  of  the  West,"  showed  the  large  increase 
of  57.7  per  cent. 

30 


HAWAII 

The  Hawaiian  or  Sandwich  Islands  are  a  group  of  eight  large  islands  and 
some  islets  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  bordering  on  the  tropics,  something 
over  2,000  miles  southwest  of  San  Francisco.  The  Islands  are  mountainous, 
containing  several  well-known  volcanoes.  Among  their  many  products  cane 
sugar  leads  as  an  article  of  export,  followed  by  pineapples,  rice,  bananas, 
and  hides. 

Previous  to  1 894  Hawaii  was  ruled  by  native  kings,  and  in  that  year 
became  a  republic  ruled  by  a  president  and  two  houses  in  Congress,  and 
continued  so  until  it  was  annexed  to  the  United  States  in  1  900. 

Although  these  Islands  are  situate  in  the  Torrid  Zone,  they  escape  the 
sweltering  heats  found  elsewhere  within  a  similar  latitude.  The  reason  for 
this  favored  climate  is  that  Hawaii  is  surrounded  with  a  uniformly  cool  ocean, 
which  derives  its  surface  waters  almost  direct  from  the  enormous  Antarctic 
glacier. 

The  largest  island  of  the  group — Hawaii — contains  4,015  square  miles, 
or  about  the  area  of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  Hawaii  is  self-governing 
in  an  equal  degree  with  our  former  territories.  The  executive  power  is 
vested  in  a  governor,  who  is  appointed  by  the  President,  as  is  also  the 
Territorial  Secretary,  but  both  of  these  officials  must  be  citizens  of  the 
territory. 

The  aboriginal  people  were  Polynesians  and  probably  first  came  from 
Tahiti  as  early  as  A.  D.  500.  The  ancient  Hawaiians  were  barbarians, 
but  never  cannibals.  Civilization  was  introduced  to  the  Islands  by  Captain 
Cook's  discovery  in  1  778.  The  Island  of  Oahu,  on  which  the  City  of 
Honolulu  is  situate,  is  third  in  point  of  size;  the  first  in  importance  among 
the  Islands  of  the  Hawaiian  Group,  and  is  the  strategic  centre  of  the  United 
States'  interests  in  the  Pacific.  Here  is  located  the  magnificent  landlocked 
arm  of  the  sea,  Pearl  Harbor,  in  which  the  Navy  Department  has  begun 
the  construction  of  what  is  expected  to  be  the  greatest  naval  base  in  the 
world.  Honolulu  has  cable  connection  with  San  Francisco,  and  with  the 
Asiatic  continent  via  Midway  Islands,  Guam  and  the  Philippines.  Each 
Island  of  the  group  has  its  own  telephone  system  reaching  every  district,  while 
the  separate  Islands  are  connected  by  a  wireless  telegraph  system. 

One  of  the  recent  growing  industries  is  that  of  pineapple  culture,  the 
annual  output  being  over  1  0,000,000  cans  of  what  are  claimed  to  be  the 
finest  pineapples  in  the  world. 

The    Hon.     Oscar   S.    Straus    complimented    the   City   of    Honolulu    by 


saying:  "1  have  seen  much  of  the  world.  I  am  familiar  with  those  places 
which  are  the  favored  lands  for  tourists,  and  my  eight  days'  stay  here  has 
convinced  me  that  there  is  no  land  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  considering 
climate  and  population,  beauty  of  scenery  and  charms  of  hospitality,  which 
offers  so  much  to  the  tourist  either  in  health  or  pleasure  as  this  Eden  of 
the  Pacific." 

Hawaii  increased  in  population  24.6  per  cent,  in  the  last  decade. 

The  following  fairy  tale  has  had  a  wide  circulation  outside  of  Honolulu: 

A  friend  met  a  cheerful  Irish  citizen  in  San  Francisco,  who  had  plainly 
suffered  some  hard  knocks. 

"Well,  Pat,  how  are  you  getting  along  now?"  he  inquired. 

"Oh,  Oi'm  hard  up  yet,  but  Oi  have  a  fine  job  in  Honolulu,  and  fare 
paid.  Oi  sail  to-morrow." 

"Sure,  man,  you'll  never  be  able  to  work  there.  The  temperature  is 
100  in  the  shade."  ' 

"Well,"  he  replied,  hopefully,  "Oi'll  not  be  worrukin'  in  th'  shade  all  th' 
toime." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  temperature  of  Honolulu  ranges  between  60  and 
90  degrees  Fahrenheit,  and  its  climate  is  one  of  the  most  agreeable  in  the 
world. 

Hawaii  has  no  snakes  and  no  malaria.  Its  climate  is  ideal  for  nervous 
complaints,  but  those  suffering  from  pulmonary  tuberculosis  will  do  better  in 
a  dryer  air. 

The  Hawaiian  language  consists  of  but  twelve  letters. 

According  to  the  census  the  population  of  Hawaii  from  1900  to  1910 
increased  24.6  per  cent.  Honolulu's  population  was  given  by  the  census 
as  52,183,  a  gain  of  32.8  per  cent. 


IDAHO 

Motto  of  Idaho:    As  a  Territory — "Salve!"  "Hail!" 
As  a  State — "Esto  Perpetua,"  "Let  It  Be  Perpetual." 

The  thirteenth  State  admitted  to  the  Union  was  Idaho.  It  was  first 
explored  by  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition.  Within  its  present  limits 
the  Coeur  d'Alene  mission  was  established  in  1842.  The  region  was 
visited  almost  exclusively  by  hunters  and  trappers  till  1  852,  when  gold  was 
discovered  on  its  present  northern  boundary.  By  Act  of  Congress  of  March 
3,  1863,  the  Territory  of  Idaho  was  created  from  a  portion  of  Oregon 
Territory,  with  an  area  which  included  the  whole  of  the  present  State  of 
Montana  and  nearly  all  that  of  Wyoming.  A  year  later  the  territory  lost 
a  part  of  its  area  to  form  the  Territory  of  Montana,  and  in  1  868  another 
large  portion  was  cut  from  it  to  form  the  Territory  of  Wyoming.  On  July 
3,  1  890,  the  territory  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  having  then 
a  gross  area  of  84,800  square  miles.  Between  the  dates  of  its  creation  as 
a  Territory  and  a  State  it  became  widely  noted  as  a  most  promising  field 
for  gold  and  silver  mining,  and  for  several  years  later  Idaho  was  classed 
politically  as  the  silver  State.  Prospecting,  however,  developed  a  large 
number  of  rich-paying  gold  properties  and  during  the  copper  excitement 
of  1  898- 1  90 1  many  veins  of  that  mineral  were  found.  In  1  899  the  gold 
mines  of  Idaho  yielded  $  1 ,889,000  and  the  silver  mines  $2,311 ,080.  The 
development  of  the  various  mining  interests  was  seriously  retarded  for  many 
years  by  lack  of  transportation  facilities,  but  by  1900  railroads  had  been 
extended  to  a  number  of  important  centers  and  wagon  roads  had  been  con- 
structed communicating  direct  with  the  mining  properties.  The  State  also 
has  a  net  resource  of  inestimable  value  in  its  forests  with  a  great  variety  of 
timber,  including  what  is  said  to  be  the  largest  tract  of  white  pine  in  the 
world. 

A  few  years  ago  Idaho  was  unheard  of  as  an  agricultural  State.  It  cap- 
tured only  one  prize  for  a  fruit  exhibit  at  the  Buffalo  Exposition.  At  the 
Chicago  World's  Fair,  however,  the  older  States  of  the  East  were  surprised 
to  hear  that  Idaho  apples  were  awarded  the  first  prize,  and  again  at  the 
Ogden  (Utah)  meeting  of  the  National  Irrigation  Congress  Idaho  captured 
the  $500  prize  for  the  best  fruit  exhibit.  The  height  of  the  State's  achieve- 
ment was  attained  a  few  years  later,  when  at  the  St.  Louis  World's  Fair, 
Idaho  was  awarded  the  grand  prize  for  her  agricultural  exhibit.  These  vic- 
tories, gained  on  merit  and  without  influence  in  the  centers  of  older  civiliza- 
tion, excited  the  wonder  of  farming  experts  throughout  the  country.  With 

33 


the  long  days  of  sunshine  and  the  moisture  that  is  easily  applied  at  the  right 
time  for  growing  crops,  the  results  secured  from  the  rich  soils  of  Idaho's 
formerly  arid  lands  are  so  great  as  to  stagger  the  credulity  of  the  old-time 
farmer  in  the  Eastern  States,  where  the  natural  rainfall  is  depended  upon. 
The  irrigation  projects  under  way  provide  for  over  two  million  acres,  with 
invested  capital  of  $35,500,000.  More  than  a  million  acres  are  now  open 
to  settlers. 

Idaho  extended  suffrage  to  women  in  1  896,  and  as  a  further  advance 
in  progress  has  an  anti-gambling  law. 

Boise,  the  capital  city,  situate  at  an  elevation  of  2,700  feet,  had  its 
beginning  in  the  rush  for  gold  in  1 862  to  Idaho  City,  which  wonderful 
camp  yielded  from  its  placers  some  two  hundred  millions  in  eight  years.  The 
United  States  Government  established  Fort  Boise  on  the  Boise  River,  where 
the  trail  branched  off  into  the  mountains  to  Idaho  City,  thirty-six  miles 
away,  and  in  1 863  the  present  city  of  Boise  was  laid  out  on  the  plain 
between  the  fort  and  the  river.  The  climate  is  mild,  and  in  addition  to  a 
well-built  business  section,  the  city  has  such  picturesque  residences  and 
grounds  that  it  well  deserves  its  title  of  "The  City  Beautiful."  The  Payette- 
Boise  irrigation  project  of  the  United  States  Government  will  be  of  great 
benefit,  as  it  will  open  up  for  irrigation  372,000  acres,  tributary  directly 
or  indirectly  to  Boise.  Its  building  improvements  in  1910  totaled 
$1,301,190. 

Weiser,  about  eighty  miles  west  of  Boise,  is  situate  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  Snake  River,  and  is  sometimes  called  the  "Gate  City,"  being  situate 
on  the  highway  of  travel  and  the  first  city  reached  by  throngs  of  home- 
seekers  continually  moving  to  the  "Irrigated  Empire"  of  Southern  Idaho. 
It  is  growing  rapidly. 

Lewiston  is  one  of  the  most  promising  cities  in  the  State,  and  has  such 
varied  resources  that  it  seems  certain  to  show  a  continued  increase  in  popu- 
lation. It  has  a  mild  winter  climate;  a  very  productive  farming  country;  is 
an  important  railroad  center,  and  is  noted  for  its  orchards  and  gardens. 

The  Nez  Perce  and  Camas  prairies  are  directly  tributary  to  Lewiston, 
the  average  annual  grain  production  of  this  district  exceeding  ten  million 
bushels.  The  largest  stand  of  white  pine  in  the  world  is  contiguous  to  the 
city,  the  Government  estimate  of  its  merchantable  timber  being  twenty 
billion  feet,  and  as  an  evidence  of  the  climate's  adaptability  to  small  fruits 
it  is  interesting  to  know  that  here  is  the  largest  acreage  in  the  Northwest 
of  the  Bing  cherry. 

Lewiston  also  can  boast  of  one  of  the  largest  fruit  orchards  or  commu- 
nities in  this  country,  comprising  at  present  6,000  acres  and  to  be  increased 
to  20,000  acres  or  more.  The  company  operating  this  tract  have  solved 

34 


two  important  problems  which  in  many  other  districts  have  proved  serious 
handicaps  to  development.  By  a  system  of  city  water,  brought  from  the 
mountains  and  carried  in  underground  pipes,  malaria,  typhoid  and  the  pest  of 
mosquitoes  incident  to  the  old  method  of  irrigating  by  dead  water  in  open 
flumes  and  ditches  have  been  eliminated.  They  have  also  established  a  sys- 
tem of  horticultural  inspection  and  give  their  fruit  growers  the  benefit  of  the 
advice  and  experience  of  a  staff  of  experts. 

Idaho  more  than  doubled  in  population  from    1 900  to    1910,  the  ratio 
of  increase  being  101.3  per  cent. 


35 


MONTANA 

"Your  future  wealth  cannot  help  being  great.  You  could  not 
keep  back  a  country  that  will  produce  what  we  have  seen  to-day 
any  more  than  you  could  keep  the  tide  out  with  a  pitchfork." 

— J.  J.  Hill,  at  Montana  State  Fair,  Helena,  Sept.  27,  1909. 

All  that  portion  of  Montana  (the  name  is  from  the  Latin,  meaning 
mountainous)  lying  west  of  the  "Continental  Divide"  was  originally  included 
in  the  Territory  of  Oregon  and  remained  a  portion  of  that  Territory  until 
1853,  when  Oregon  Territory  was  divided,  and  it  became  a  part  of  Wash- 
ington Territory,  until  1  863,  when  it  was  included  in  the  Territory  of  Idaho, 
until  1  864.  It  was  then  included  in  the  Territory  of  Montana,  until  Mon- 
tana was  admitted  as  a  State,  in  1  889.  When  that  portion  of  Montana 
lying  west  of  the  Continental  Divide  was  included  in  the  Territories  of  Ore- 
gon, Washington,  and  Idaho,  it  included  the  present  counties  of  Missoula, 
Deer  Lodge,  Powell,  Granite,  Ravalli,  Flathead,  Sanders,  and  Lincoln. 
In  1860  the  aforesaid  section  of  country  was  embraced  in  the  limits  of 
Washington  Territory,  and  in  that  year  the  Legislature  of  the  Territory  of 
Washington  created  the  County  of  Missoula,  which  county  included  all  of 
the  country  now  included  in  the  eight  counties  above  named.  The  word 
"Divide"  was  applied  by  the  early  Western  hunters  and  trappers  to  a 
ridge  of  land  which  divided  waters  running  in  different  directions — the 
crest  line  between  the  slopes  of  two  drainage  systems.  The  government 
surveyors  naturally  applied  the  term  to  that  portion  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains which  forms  a  natural  water-shed  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans,  and  that,  it  is  believed,  was  the  origin  of  the  felicitous  term  "Con- 
tinental Divide." 

The  first  white  settlement  was  made  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  near  the 
present  town  of  Stevensville  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  under  the  direction  of 
Father  De  Smet,  and  was  named  St.  Mary's  Mission. 

In  1852  Benetsee,  a  half-breed  who  had  lived  in  California,  found  small 
quantities  of  gold  on  Gold  Creek,  in  Western  Montana.  In  1858  the 
Stuart  brothers  started  mining  operations  there.  The  next  important  dis- 
covery of  gold  was  on  Grasshopper  Creek  in  1862,  and  the  town  of  Ban- 
nack  was  laid  out  near  the  creek  in  that  year.  The  news  of  the  find  spread 
rapidly  and  occasioned  an  inrush  of  people  from  the  nearby  Territories  and 
States,  among  them  some  of  the  wildest  adventurers  whose  names  and 
crimes  figure  prominently  in  the  early  history  of  the  territory. 

36 


The  first  white  woman  who  came  to  the  country  was  Mrs.  Minnie  Miller, 
the  wife  of  Henry  G.  Miller.  On  the  fifth  day  of  March,  1  862,  occurred 
the  first  marriage  of  two  white  persons  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State 
of  Montana,  the  contracting  parties  being  George  P.  White  and  Mrs.  Jose- 
phine Dukes.  On  February  13,  1  862,  in  Grass  Valley,  about  eight  miles 
west  of  Missoula,  there  was  born  to  R.  A.  Pelkey  and  Adeline  Pelkey,  his 
wife,  a  son,  this  being  the  first  white  child  born  within  the  limits  of  the 
present  State  of  Montana.  He  was  named  Jefferson  Henry  Pelkey,  and  is 
now  a  resident  of  Missoula  County. 

The  first  newspaper  in  Montana  was  issued  at  Virginia  City,  August, 
1864,  and  the  first  quartz  mill  was  erected  in  1863 — the  Bannack  Hope 
Mill  at  Philipsburg,  which  is  still  in  operation. 

On  May  26,  1 863,  while  a  party  of  miners  were  fleeing  from  hostile 
Indians,  they  made  camp  on  a  small  creek  and  panned  some  of  the  gravel 
on  the  bar  above  camp,  getting  thirty  cents  in  gold  to  the  first  pan.  Subse- 
quent pans  proved  so  rich,  they  decided  to  return  to  Bannack  for  pro- 
visions. The  news  of  the  discovery  was  divulged,  and  at  least  300  men 
followed  them  back  to  the  creek,  which  was  named  Alder  Creek.  It  is 
estimated  that  Alder  Gulch  produced  sixty  million  dollars  in  the  fifteen 
miles  that  it  was  worked.  Virginia  City  was  built  in  this  gulch,  and  for 
years  was  the  commercial  and  political  center  of  the  territory.  During  the 
palmy  days  of  '64  and  '65  its  population  was  ten  thousand  people.  The 
next  important  discovery  was  in  1  864  at  Last  Chance  Gulch,  where  Helena 
stands  now,  which  section  rapidly  sprang  into  prominence  because  of  its 
richness.  Helena  grew  rapidly  and  soon  became  the  commercial  headquar- 
ters, being  but  1  40  miles  by  an  easy  road  from  Fort  Benton,  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  Missouri  River.  During  the  fall  of  1 866  a  four-horse 
team  hauled  over  this  road  for  shipment  down  the  river  two  and  one-half  tons 
of  gold,  worth  over  $1 ,500,000 — nearly  all  taken  from  nearby  gulches. 

From  the  branches  of  the  famous  Hangman's  tree  at  Helena  a  total  of 
thirteen  men  were  hanged  by  the  vigilantes,  when  a  zealous  clergyman  cut 
the  tree  down  and  peddled  portions  out  for  canes. 

By  Act  of  Congress  in  May,  1  864,  Montana  was  taken  from  the  eastern 
portion  of  Idaho  and  organized  as  a  separate  Territory,  and  on  November 
8,  1 889,  was  made  a  State. 

The  coming  of  Marcus  Daly  in  1887  marked  the  beginning  of  a  remark- 
able era  of  development  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley.  Mr.  Daly  purchased 
28,000  acres  of  land  at  prices  ranging  from  $2  to  $25  an  acre.  He 
founded  the  town  of  Hamilton,  which  was  named  after  one  of  his  foremen, 
and  at  his  stock  farm  assembled  hundreds  of  the  best  thoroughbreds.  His 
enterprise  and  foresight  were  shown  in  all  directions,  but  the  most  enduring 

37 


of  all  his  great  undertakings  was  the  irrigation  system  he  inaugujated,  by 
which  thousands  of  acres  of  bench  lands  were  reclaimed  and  made  richly 
productive.  After  his  untimely  death  nearly  ten  years  passed  before  his 
plans  for  extensive  irrigation  were  fully  carried  into  effect.  Then  Sam  I. 
Dinsmore,  of  Missoula,  succeeded  in  interesting  a  number  of  capitalists, 
including  Mr.  W.  I.  Moody,  of  Chicago.  The  latter  gentleman  "swung 
the  big  ditch,"  and  as  a  result  of  this  and  other  efforts  in  the  same  direction, 
the  Bitter  Root  Valley  has  obtained  a  world-wide  reputation,  especially 
for  the  wonderful  yields  from  its  apple  orchards.  The  lands  which  were 
sold  readily  to  Marcus  Daly  at  an  average  price  of  perhaps  $  1  0  an  acre 
are  now  valued  in  the  hundreds  and  pay  big  interest  on  the  increased  valua- 
tion, some  apple  orchards  having  yielded  as  high  as  $1,600  per  acre  in 
one  season. 

In  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  about  65,000  acres  of  holdings  are  now  being 
irrigated  and  sold  to  home  builders  in  5,  10,  and  20  acre  tracts  as  a  rule. 
Irrigation  is  a  simple  thing.  Even  the  Indians  understand  it,  and  make 
practical  use  of  it.  Nearly  20  years  ago  the  Crow  Indians  put  in  extensive 
irrigation  works  on  the  Little  Big  Horn  River,  on  the  very  ground  where  a 
part  of  Custer's  disastrous  battle  of  June  25,  1876,  took  place. 

In  the  Yellowstone  Valley  irrigation  is  practiced  on  the  bottom  lands, 
but  on  the  high  lands  dry  farming  accomplishes  fine  results  by  scientific  con- 
servation of  the  moisture  in  the  soil.  Apples  appear  to  be  the  most  profitable 
crop  and  certain  varieties  do  better  in  particular  localities  than  others.  The 
Mclntosh  Red  is  the  preferred  apple  in  the  Valley  of  Clark's  Fork  of  the 
Yellowstone  and  the  Bitter  Root  Valley.  Three  acres  in  the  above  valley 
netted  $800  an  acre. 

The  United  States  Government  is  now  reclaiming  100,000  acres  in  the 
Yellowstone  Valley,  and  in  addition  there  are  about  300,000  acres  under 
private  irrigation.  This  valley,  with  its  magnificent  acreage  and  tremendous 
water  supply  has  a  wonderful  future,  with  great  achievements  in  irrigation. 

Montana's  agricultural  possibilities  are  far  greater  than  its  other  sources  of 
wealth.  The  statistics  furnished  by  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture show  that  Montana  produces  yields  of  all  kinds  of  cereals  that  are 
phenomenal.  For  the  past  ten  years  it  has  averaged  27  bushels  of  wheat 
per  acre — more  than  twice  the  average  yield  per  acre  of  the  entire  United 
States — 46  bushels  of  oats,  40  bushels  of  the  highest  grade  of  barley,  and 
24  bushels  of  rye  per  acre.  This  great  yield  is  explained  by  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  and  by  the  climate,  which  provides  the  proper  temperature  for  grain. 
During  the  growing  season  the  fact  that  the  number  of  hours  of  sunlight 
is  greater  than  in  any  other  State  in  the  Union  is  caused  by  the  latitude 
and  from  the  fact  that  there  are  few  cloudy  days.  This  has  an  important 

38 


bearing  on  the  crops.  In  1 909  Montana  raised  nearly  1  1 ,000,000  bushels 
of  wheat,  valued  at  $9,304,000. 

The  coal  lands  in  Montana,  which  the  Government  has  withdrawn  from 
public  entry,  comprise  1 3,500,000  acres,  an  area  nearly  as  large  as  20 
Rhode  Islands.  The  total  coal  area  now  reserved  in  this  State  equals  all 
New  England,  with  West  Virginia  thrown  in. 

Montana  is  the  third  State  in  size,  with  146,080  square  miles  and  a 
total  of  93,806,080  acres.  It  claims  to  be  richer  in  natural  wealth  than 
Pennsylvania;  has  30,000,000  acres  of  arable  land  (with  8,000,000  acres 
now  under  cultivation),  and  has  resources  sufficient  to  support  in  comfort 
many  times  its  present  population.  The  State  is  550  miles  east  and  west 
and  about  300  miles  north  and  south,  and  is  as  large  as  the  combined  area 
of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Maryland,  and  Connecticut.  It  has 
one  county — Custer — that  is  larger  than  the  State  of  Maryland.  Fergus 
County  is  as  large  as  Delaware  and  Connecticut  combined.  In  the  next 
few  years  Montana  is  likely  to  show  as  rapid  development  as  ever  known  in 
any  State,  as  it  has  the  mines,  forests,  rich  agricultural  and  grazing  lands,  and 
water  power  to  contribute  to  make  its  settlers  independent. 

Butte  is  situate  on  the  west  slope  of  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. The  town  site  was  laid  out  in  1857  and  patented  in  1876,  the  pop- 
ulation being  at  that  time  about  five  hundred.  Silver  Bow  County,  of  which 
Butte  is  the  principal  part,  was  organized  in  1881  and  at  that  time  had  a 
population  of  5,000.  Butte  now  has  about  150  mines  in  active  operation, 
which  produce  nearly  6,000,000  tons  of  ore  per  year.  In  1 905  the  Butte 
mines  had  an  output  of  3 1 9,000,000  pounds  of  copper.  There  are  shipped 
daily  10,000  tons  of  ore  to  the  Washoe  Smelter  at  Anaconda,  26  miles 
distant,  for  reduction  in  that  smelter,  which,  with  its  concentrating  plant,  is 
the  largest  in  the  world.  The  mines  of  Butte  require  125,000,000  feet  of 
timber  every  year.  The  mining  payroll  is  about  $1 ,250,000  per  month. 

Butte  is  one  of  the  best  lighted  cities  in  the  Northwest.  It  produces  30 
per  cent,  of  the  copper  mined  in  the  United  States,  and  nearly  1 8  per  cent,  of 
the  copper  output  of  the  world,  and  more  silver  than  any  other  district  in 
America.  The  mineral  is  found  in  blanket  veins,  is  not  confined  to  a  narrow 
lode,  and  has  a  production  record  of  over  $900,000,000.  Butte  is  one 
of  the  mining  wonders  of  the  world,  and  in  a  class  by  itself.  It  showed 
an  increase  of  population  of  28.5  per  cent.,  according  to  the  last  census. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  was  constructed  in  1 883,  reaching 
Missoula  from  the  west  in  July,  1  883. 

Helena,  the  State  capital,  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  Montana  and  has 
within  a  radius  of  forty  miles  400,000  acres  suitable  for  cultivation.  The 
city  now  has  excellent  prospects  for  steady  growth,  based  on  the  recent 

39 


development  of  its  great  natural  resources.  It  has  an  unusually  substantial 
and  beautiful  class  of  buildings  in  its  business  and  residential  sections. 

With  the  increasing  flow  of  immigration  additional  manufacturing  enter- 
prises will  be  required,  and  one  of  the  greatest  inducements  that  Helena 
offers  for  the  location  of  these  new  industries  is  the  electrical  power  from 
the  plants  of  the  United  Missouri  River  Power  Company.  These  consist  of 
two  dams  and  generating  stations  on  the  Missouri  River,  within  1  5  miles  of 
Helena  and  a  third  dam  now  under  construction,  these  plants  representing 
100,000  horse-power.  The  dams  develop  a  total  head  of  220  feet  and 
impound  three  storage  reservoirs,  with  a  total  area  of  20  square  miles. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  was  constructed  in  1 883  and  reached 
Missoula  from  the  west  in  July,  1 883. 

Missoula,  the  "Garden  City"  of  Montana,  as  it  has  been  aptly  termed,  is 
the  natural  gateway  to  the  Flathead  reservation  of  a  million  acres  recently 
opened  to  settlement,  and  to  the  Bitter  Root  valley,  added  by  railway  con- 
struction. Its  first  buildings  were  erected  in  1  864.  During  the  past  five 
years  the  city  has  shown  a  remarkable  growth,  has  doubled  its  population 
and  has  largely  increased  its  business  and  residence  sections.  The  State 
University  is  one  of  the  city's  most  important  assets.  It  is  supported  by  legis- 
lative appropriation  and  by  the  income  from  its  land  holdings  of  46,240 
acres.  The  university  has  a  beautiful  campus  of  40  acres,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Sentinel  and  560  acres  on  the  northern  slope  of  the  mountain.  Mis- 
soula is  the  natural  center  of  a  rich  country,  and  should  long  continue  its 
rapid  growth  and  development. 

To  those  who  look  upon  Montana  as  a  wild  mining  country  the  statement 
of  James  J.  Hill,  the  great  railroad  builder,  may  be  a  surprise.  He  said : 

"Montana  in  my  judgment  will  be  the  greatest  grain-growing  State  in 
the  Union,  and  from  what  I  have  seen  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  it  will 
not  eventually  be  a  great  corn  State.  Montana  has  within  her  borders 
unoccupied  agricultural  lands  practically  equal  to  the  entire  State  of  Iowa 
or  the  State  of  Illinois,  but  neither  of  those  States  can  even  now  make  as 
valued  an  exhibit  of  general  agricultural  products  as  Montana." 

The  United  States  Geological  Survey  recently  reported  the  discovery  of 
phosphate  beds  believed  to  be  of  great  value  in  western  Montana.  These 
deposits  are  on  public  lands  near  Butte,  which  have  been  withdrawn  from 
entry  pending  legislation  by  Congress  as  to  their  control  and  disposition. 

Montana  increased  54.5  per  cent,  in  population  from  1900  to  1910. 


NEVADA 

Nevada  is  a  part  of  the  extensive  territory  ceded  to  the  United  States  at 
the  same  time  as  California  by  the  treaty  of  Gaudeloupe  Hidalgo,  in  1  848. 
This  region  of  the  Spanish  domain  had  not,  like  that  west  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  or  snowy  mountain  chain,  a  distinctive  name,  but  was  described 
by  local  names  and  divided  into  valleys. 

In  March  following  the  treaty  with  Mexico  and  the  discovery  of  gold,  the 
inhabitants  of  Salt  Lake  Valley  met  and  organized  the  State  of  Deseret,  the 
boundaries  of  which  included  the  whole  of  the  recently  acquired  Mexican 
territory  outside  of  California,  and  something  more.  Congress  failing  to 
recognize  the  State  of  Deseret,  created  instead,  by  an  act  passed  on  Sep- 
tember 9,  1850,  the  Territory  of  Utah,  with  boundaries  which  embraced 
Nevada  likewise.  This  association  was  continued  until  1861,  when  the 
Territory  of  Nevada  was  organized  by  act  of  Congress  out  of  western  Utah. 

Nevada  was  on  the  great  overland  trail  of  the  California  gold  hunters. 
It  was  originally  settled  by  Mormons,  the  first  house  being  built  at  Genoa  in 
1851.  It  was  made  a  Territory  in  1  86 1 ,  and  on  October  31,  1  864,  its 
present  limits  were  established,  and  it  was  formally  created  a  State,  as  a 
war  measure,  on  the  recommendation  of  President  Lincoln. 

The  history  of  Nevada  practically  begins  with  the  discovery  of  the  fabu- 
lously rich  Comstock  lode  in  1  859,  on  the  slope  of  Mount  Davidson.  Soon 
followed  a  rush  for  the  new  El  Dorado.  In  a  few  years  Virginia  City 
was  a  thriving,  turbulent  municipality,  being  in  1 864  the  second  largest 
city  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Numbered  among  its  population  were  the  coming  "bonanza  kings"- 
James  L.  Flood,  W.  S.  O'Brien,  James  G.  Fair  (who  became  United 
States  Senator  from  Nevada),  and  John  W.  Mackay — who  were  destined 
to  play  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  development  of  the  mineral  wealth  of 
Nevada,  by  which  California,  and  the  nation  as  well,  benefited.  The  tre- 
mendous good  fortune  of  these  men  again  emphasized  the  statement  that 
"truth  is  stranger  than  fiction."  They  acquired  among  other  properties, 
for  a  nominal  figure,  an  old  claim  known  as  the  "Central,"  sunk  a  shaft  on 
it  and  uncovered  one  of  the  richest  bonanzas  of  gold  and  silver  ore  ever 
discovered,  from  which  over  a  hundred  millions  were  taken.  The  despised 
"Central,"  which  few  could  be  induced  to  buy  at  $1.00  a  share,  at  one 
time  had  an  actual  value,  based  on  the  market  price  of  "Consolidated  Vir- 
ginia" and  "California"  (both  mines  having  been  carved  out  of  the  old 
"Central"),  of  $3,000  a  share.  Another  partner  named  Walker  began 


mining  operations  with  the  four  above  mentioned,  but  sold  out  early  to  Mr. 
Mackay,  which  accounts  for  the  greater  wealth  acquired  by  the  latter,  whose 
holdings  were  double  those  of  each  of  his  three  associates. 

In  the  period  between  1860  and  1880  other  discoveries  of  precious 
metals  were  made  and  new  centers  of  mining  wealth  sprang  into  existence, 
to  flourish  until  their  treasure  chambers  were  exhausted.  Between  1 880  and 
1900  a  period  of  industrial  stagnation  ensued.  The  population  dwindled 
and  many  of  the  most  energetic  left  for  other  scenes.  The  mineral  wealth 
of  Nevada  during  this  period  was  popularly  supposed  to  be  almost  entirely 
silver — and  silver  had  largely  depreciated  in  value.  The  prospector  lost 
the  interest  to  search  for  it,  and  the  operator  to  mine  it.  As  a  result,  between 
1890  and  the  date  of  the  discovery  of  Tonopah,  mining  had  languished  to 
very  small  proportions. 

The  New  Nevada  began  with  the  finding  of  Tonopah  by  "Jim  '  Butler. 
It  required  a  year  of  steady  shipments  of  rich  ore  before  the  incredulous 
public  became  interested  in  the  reports  of  the  new  bonanza.  Miners  and 
prospectors  then  flocked  in  from  neighboring  mining  States.  The  neglected 
hills  were  again  explored,  and  new  finds,  some  of  them  of  surpassing  rich- 
ness, began  to  follow  one  another  with  fever-producing  regularity.  The 
State  all  at  once  was  discovered  to  possess  greater  deposits  of  gold  than  of 
silver.  A  period  of  wild  speculation  ensued.  The  whole  country  caught  the 
mining  fever  to  invest  in  the  shares  of  innumerable  mining  stock  companies — 
good,  bad,  and  indifferent.  Then  in  the  financial  crash  of  1907  the  golden 
bubbles  burst,  leaving  only  the  mines  of  real  merit  to  make  good  the  opulent 
dreams  of  their  possessors.  Since  that  date  mining  in  Nevada  has  reassumed 
its  rightful  position  as  a  specialized  and  legitimate  industry.  The  State's 
mineral  production  for  the  year  1 909  was  about  $25,000,000.  Six  millions 
of  this  were  represented  by  the  production  of  copper  at  Ely,  where  is  now 
located  one  of  the  largest  copper  concentrating  and  smelting  plants  in  the 
world.  At  Yerington,  another  great  copper  district  has  reached  the  stage 
of  development  wherein,  on  the  completion  of  the  smelters  now  in  course 
of  erection,  it  should  take  high  rank  as  a  copper  producer. 

A  territory,  whose  mineral  possibilities  can  scarcely  be  exaggerated,  will 
be  opened  to  an  army  of  prospectors  within  the  next  two  years.  It  lies  in 
that  stretch  of  desert  between  Ely,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State,  and 
Rhyolite,  in  the  southwest.  None  but  the  most  daring  prospectors  have 
penetrated  into  that  vast  waste,  because  the  water  supply  has  never  been 
fully  ascertained,  and  to  venture  into  the  desert  a  hundred  miles  distant  from 
known  sources  of  water  and  feed  assumes  a  risk  and  outlay  few  care  to 
undertake.  However,  a  line  from  Ely  to  Tonopah  has  been  thoroughly 
surveyed,  and  construction  work  will  probably  soon  begin. 

42 


Reno  is  now  the  largest  city  in  the  State,  "for  all  roads  lead  to  Reno."  It 
is  beautifully  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Truckee  River  (noted  for  its 
trout),  in  a  fertile  and  picturesque  valley  at  the  base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains.  It  more  than  doubled  in  population  in  the  ten  years  reported  by 
the  last  census,  and  is  a  railroad  and  distributing  center  of  growing  impor- 
tance, with  a  commercial  supremacy  in  the  western  half  of  the  Great  Basin 
that  is  never  likely  to  be  threatened.  It  is  a  thoroughly  modern  little  city, 
with  many  miles  of  cement  and  asphalt  streets  and  sidewalks;  possesses  a 
comprehensive  electric  street  car  system,  substantial  business  blocks,  theatres, 
libraries  and  handsome  residences.  The  State  University  is  located  here,  as 
also  other  important  institutions,  public  and  private.  An  idea  of  the  business 
transacted  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  its  post  office  ranks  in  the  first  class  and 
the  aggregate  resources  of  its  four  leading  banks  amount  to  $10,000,000, 
with  aggregate  deposits  of  $6,000,000. 

Goldfield,  the  second  largest  town,  is  situated  in  south  central  Nevada, 
in  one  of  the  world's  largest  gold  mining  districts.  About  seven  years  ago 
this  interesting  place  was  an  alkali  desert  studded  with  sage  brush  and  peo- 
pled with  coyotes  and  jackrabbits.  Eight  months  after  the  locality  became 
known  to  men  its  output  of  gold  was  $1,500,000.  The  wealth  stored 
in  that  acrid  soil  drew  thousands  to  the  spot  and  made  it  the  theatre  of 
one  of  the  greatest  mining  excitements  of  the  generation.  The  gross 
yield  of  the  Goldfield  Consolidated  Mine  last  year  was  $10,850,000, 
making  it  the  largest  individual  contributor  to  the  world's  stock  of  gold. 

Other  towns  of  importance  are  Carson,  the  State  capital,  beautifully 
located  and  a  most  picturesque  little  city  (named  after  the  famous  Kit  Car- 
son and  once  the  home  of  Mark  Twain)  ;  Elko,  Winnemucca,  Rhyolite, 
and  Sparks. 

Nevada  has  an  area  of  1  10,700  square  miles,  occupying  the  western 
portion  of  the  Great  Basin.  It  is  the  smallest  of  the  States  in  population, 
and  the  third  richest  in  mineral  wealth.  Its  development  has  been  retarded 
by  its  arid  climate.  Its  immense  valleys  and  deserts  contain  millions  of  acres 
of  extremely  fertile  soil,  but  on  which  little  grows  naturally  but  sagebrush.  The 
rainfall  is  scanty,  except  on  the  high  mountain  ranges,  which  traverse  it  from 
north  to  south.  On  the  vast  deserts  scarcely  any  moisture  falls  between 
April  and  October.  Otherwise  than  for  its  dryness,  the  climate  is  temper- 
ate, healthful,  and  invigorating.  Along  the  rivers  and  streams  productive 
farms  have  been  reclaimed  by  diverting  the  water  by  means  of  ditches  and 
canals  to  irrigate  the  land,  on  which  bountiful  crops  are  produced.  Cattle 
and  sheep  find  subsistence  ranging  the  hills  and  valleys.  Stock  raising,  after 
mining,  is  the  next  industry  in  importance. 

The  National  Reclamation  Service  has  undertaken  an  extensive  reclama- 

43 


tion  enterprise  in  the  State — the  Truckee-Carson  project — and  has  a  num- 
ber of  others  under  consideration.  The  former  is  practically  completed  and 
is  bringing  under  cultivation  a  large  tract  of  land  near  Fallen  by  conserving 
the  waters  of  the  two  rivers  from  which  it  gets  its  name  and  conducting  the 
combined  streams  by  an  elaborate  system  of  canals,  to  the  land.  A  num- 
ber of  important  private  irrigation  enterprises  have  recently  been  undertaken 
along  the  Humboldt  River  and  near  the  town  of  Wells.  It  is  likely  that 
within  a  few  years  every  acre  of  land  in  the  State  capable  of  reclamation 
by  its  rivers  and  streams  will  be  made  productive.  The  valleys  and  wastes 
are  so  immense,  however,  that  but  a  fraction  of  the  total  arable  area  can 
possibly  be  reclaimed  by  the  limited  surface  rivers  and  streams.  "Dry- 
farming"  is  being  tested  and  with  promising  results  in  favorable  localities. 
In  the  great  desert  waste  near  Las  Vegas,  artesian  wells  are  being  bored 
and  abundant  flows  for  irrigation  purposes  encountered  at  depths  of  from 
200  to  500  feet.  These  wells  are  proving  commercially  profitable  and  are 
leading  to  the  agricultural  development  of  this  portion  of  the  State.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  many  of  the  other  valleys  contain  bodies  of  water  in  their 
subterranean  basins  which  will  offer  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  converting 
their  desert  wastes  into  fields  and  farms.  The  possibility  is  beginning  to 
attract  attention  and  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  former  Mohave 
desert  in  California  is  being  converted  into  a  garden  by  means  of  its  under- 
ground waters. 

Nevada  is  without  indebtedness  except  to  itself;  maintains  an  expensive 
State  government,  and  holds  the  bonds  of  other  States  in  excess  of  $500,000. 
It  derived  an  income  in  1 909,  amounting  to  about  $250,000,  from  the 
taxation  of  the  bullion  of  its  mines. 

The  increase  of  Nevada's  population,  as  shown  by  the  last  census,  to 
81,875,  an  advance  of  93.4  per  cent.,  shows  the  new  life  in  the  semi-arid 
region  of  which  Nevada  is  an  extreme  type. 

The  State  presents  an  attractive  field  for  the  exploitation  of  its  peculiar 
resources,  which  have  long  lain  fallow  awaiting  conquest.  That  this  great 
domain,  larger  than  many  kingdoms,  will  soon  come  into  its  own  and  add 
another  great  agricultural  and  industrial  State  to  the  commonwealth,  is  the 
firm  conviction  of  those  who  know  it  best. 


44 


NEW   MEXICO 

Motto  of  New  Mexico:  "Crescit  eundo,"  "It  Increases  by  Going." 

The  Territory  of  New  Mexico  was  among  the  earlier  portions  of  North 
America  visited  by  the  Spaniards.  These  adventurous  spirits  explored  por- 
tions of  it  a  hundred  years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  on  the  shores  of  New 
England.  After  several  expeditions  to  that  country  by  other  explorers, 
Don  Antonio  Espejo  with  a  force  went  there  (1595-1599)  to  protect 
missions,  and  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  sent  his  representative  to  take  formal 
possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  Spain  and  to  establish  other  mis- 
sions, settlements,  and  forts.  The  Pueblo,  or  village  Indians,  were  readily 
made  converts  by  the  missionaries.  Many  successful  stations  were  established 
and  mines  were  opened  and  worked  by  enslavement  of  the  Indians,  which 
caused  discontent  and  insecurity.  After  having  been  driven  out  of  the 
country  by  the  Indians,  the  Spaniards  regained  possession  in  1  698. 

The  city  and  capital  of  New  Mexico  and  the  county  seat  of  Santa  Fe 
County,  is  Santa  Fe,  believed  to  be  the  oldest  city  in  the  United  States.  It 
still  exhibits  many  relics  of  bygone  generations.  The  streets  are  crooked 
and  narrow;  many  of  the  buildings  are  adobe,  and  among  its  interesting 
features  are  the  Church  of  San  Miguel,  erected  about  1550  and  rebuilt  in 
1710,  after  having  been  destroyed  by  the  Indians ;  the  Governor's  palace, 
a  long  one-storied  building,  with  walls  five  feet  thick,  erected  in  1598;  and 
the  Cathedral  of  San  Francisco,  built  around  a  similarly  named  structure, 
whose  records  go  back  as  far  as  1622.  In  1541  Santa  Fe  was  a  thrifty 
Indian  pueblo,  with  a  population  of  about  1  5,000.  The  Spaniards  occu- 
pied the  place  in  1605,  made  slaves  of  the  inhabitants  and  began  exploiting 
the  rich  veins  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  town  and  vicinity.  This  continued  for 
about  three  years,  when  the  Indians  rose  in  revolt,  drove  out  the  Spaniards, 
and  not  only  closed  the  mines,  but  effaced  all  indications  of  their  existence. 
The  Spaniards,  however,  again  acquired  control  of  the  town  under  Vargas, 
and  maintained  it  until  1 82 1 ,  when  Mexico  secured  its  independence  of 
Spain.  General  Stephen  W.  Kearney  took  possession  of  the  town  in  the 
name  of  the  United  States  in  1  846 ;  the  territory  was  ceded  to  the  United 
States  two  years  later,  and  the  city  became  the  capial  of  the  organized  Ter- 
ritory of  New  Mexico  in  1851. 

Along  the  El  Paso  and  Magdalena  lines  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  and 
the  Pecos  Valley  branch  are  large  deposits  of  salt.  One  of  these  deposits 
in  the  crater  of  an  extinct  volcano  has  been  used  since  the  Spanish  occupied 

45 


the  country  in  1  540.  It  covers  an  area  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in  diameter 
and  is  200  feet  deep.  The  salt  body  of  it  lies  in  solid  form.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  brine  carries  nearly  a  million  tons  of  salt  in  solution,  and  the  bed  of 
salt  below  is  said  to  be  inexhaustible. 

The  Government  is  building  dams  at  the  head  of  the  principal  valley. 
The  Rio  Grande  Valley  is  soon  to  be  watered  from  a  dam  now  under 
construction,  known  as  the  Elephant  Butte  Reclamation  project,  by  which 
200,000  acres  will  be  brought  under  cultivation.  This  dam  will  create 
a  lake  covering  34,000  acres. 

New  Mexico  is  fourth  in  size,  with  1  22,580  square  miles.  Of  its  seventy 
million  acres  of  land,  only  a  million  acres  are  under  cultivation.  The  agri- 
cultural awakening,  however,  will  soon  open  up  large  areas  of  arid  land 
and  transform  it  from  cattle  ranges  into  abundant  fertility. 

The  moment  a  water  supply  for  irrigation  is  developed  for  any  tract  of 
land  its  value  increases  to  from  $50  to  $100  an  acre.  Many  young  men 
who  took  public  land  as  homesteaders,  have  suddenly  found  themselves 
well-to-do  by  the  discovery  that  a  water  supply,  either  from  flowing  streams 
or  wells,  was  available  for  the  purpose  of  irrigation. 

The  Southwest  is  noted  for  its  so-called  lost  rivers.  Many  of  these  streams 
come  out  of  the  mountains,  where  they  are  fed  by  snows  of  winter  and  by 
springs,  only  to  disappear  into  the  glistening  sand,  perhaps  not  to  reappear 
upon  the  surface  for  several  hundred  miles.  One  of  them — the  Lost  Mimbres 
River — has  long  been  of  interest  to  geologists  and  scientists  who  have  investi- 
gated the  water  resources  of  this  part  of  the  Southwest.  This  river  has  its 
source  in  the  mountains  and  flows  in  a  bold  stream  until  it  gets  within  twenty 
miles  of  Deming,  when  it  suddenly  plunges  into  the  sands.  It  follows  a 
channel  beneath  the  surface  until  beyond  the  boundary  line  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico,  when  it  reappears  in  the  form  of  a  large  lake. 
The  course  of  this  stream  underground  lies  in  a  broad  valley,  and  at  any 
spot  in  this  depression  an  almost  inexhaustible  supply  of  water  is  obtainable 
by  means  of  wells.  So  great  is  the  supply  that  it  has  been  suggested  that 
by  digging  a  canal  from  20  to  60  feet  deep  and  from  75  to  1  00  feet  wide 
along  the  course  followed  by  the  underground  river  Deming  could  be 
reached  by  water  navigation. 

Human  energy  and  ingenuity  are  rapidly  effecting  a  transformation  of 
the  territory  between  Cook's  Peak  and  the  Florida  Mountains.  The  desert 
is  being  reclaimed  on  a  scale  that  has  already  added  much  wealth  to  this 
part  of  New  Mexico.  Individual  farmers  are  doing  the  work.  They  are 
tapping  the  underground  river  in  many  spots,  always  obtaining  a  water 
supply  to  irrigate  their  lands  and  produce  abundant  yield  of  crops. 

In  the  Deming  section  the  successful  utilization  of  electricity  in  the  opera- 

46 


tion  of  small  pumping  plants  may  be  seen  in  a  high  state  of  development. 
A  central  power  plant  was  installed  here  and  electric  transmission  lines  run 
out  in  all  directions  for  the  benefit  of  the  farmers. 

New  Mexico  showed  an  increase  of   67.5  per  cent,  in  population  from 
1900  to  1910. 


47 


OREGON 

Motto  of  Oregon:  "Alis  volat  propriis,"  "She  Flies  with  Her  Own  Wings." 

The  history  of  this  State  properly  began  with  the  discovery  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  River  by  Captain  Gray,  of  Boston,  in  the  ship  "Columbia," 
who,  on  April  29,  1  792,  entered  the  great  stream  formerly  known  as  "The 
River  of  the  North"  and  the  "Oregon,"  and  gave  the  name  of  his  vessel 
to  that  river.  Although  Bryant,  in  "Thanatopsis,"  sacrificed  patriotism  to 
euphony,  in  his  "Where  rolls  the  Oregon  and  hears  no  sound  save  its  own 
dashing,"  that  picturesque  river  still  bears  the  name  of  "Columbia."  Cap- 
tain Gray's  report  caused  President  Jefferson  to  send  out  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  expedition,  which  first  broke  into  the  heart  of  the  continent  and  directed 
the  attention  of  the  nation  to  that  great  unexplored  region.  The  two  leaders 
were  Merriwether  Lewis  of  Virginia,  a  captain  in  the  army,  29  years  old, 
who  had  been  Jefferson's  private  secretary  for  two  years,  and  William  Clark, 
also  a  native  of  Virginia,  33  years  of  age,  who  were  accompanied  by  26 
men.  In  October,  1805,  they  camped  at  the  confluence  of  the  Kooskooskie 
(now  known  as  Clearwater)  and  the  Lewis  (now  called  the  Snake)  Rivers, 
near  the  present  site  of  Lewiston,  Idaho,  which  was  first  settled  in  May, 
1861,  incorpporated  in  1863,  and  named  for  Captain  Lewis.  In  March, 
1807,  Captain  Lewis  was  appointed  Governor  of  Louisiana  Territory. 

In  1811  John  Jacob  Astor  established  a  fur  trading  post  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  River  and  called  it  Astoria.  The  doctrine  always  prac- 
ticed and  enforced  by  England,  that  the  entrance  of  a  vessel  of  a  civilized 
nation  for  the  first  time  into  the  mouth  of  a  river  gives  title  of  right  of  dis- 
covery to  the  territory  drained  by  that  river  and  its  tributaries,  clearly  gave 
to  the  Americans  the  domain  to  the  latitude  54°  40'  N.,  for  Captain  Gray's 
discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  was  not  disputed.  In  1  8 1  8  it  was  mutually 
agreed  that  each  nation  should  equally  enjoy  the  privileges  of  all  the  bays  and 
harbors  on  the  coast  for  ten  years.  This  agreement  was  renewed  in  1827  for 
an  indefinite  time,  with  the  stipulation  that  either  territory  might  rescind  it 
by  giving  the  other  party  twelve  months'  notice.  This  notice  was  given  by  the 
United  States  in  1  846,  and  also  a  proposition  to  make  the  boundary  on 
the  parallel  of  49°.  This  was  rejected  by  Great  Britain,  that  country  claim- 
ing the  whole  of  Oregon.  The  President  then  directed  the  proposition  of 
compromise  to  be  withdrawn  and  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  the  whole 
territory  of  54°  40'  North  latitude  to  be  asserted.  The  question  at  one 
time  threatened  war  between  the  two  nations,  but  it  was  finally  settled  by  a 


treaty  negotiated  at  Washington,  June  15,  1846,  by  President  Buchanan 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  Mr.  Pakenham  for  Great  Britain,  by 
which  the  boundary  line  was  fixed  at  49°  North  latitude.  In  1833  immi- 
gration to  this  region  overland  began,  and  in  1850  many  thousands  had 
reached  Oregon,  but  soon  many  of  the  settlers  were  drawn  to  California 
by  the  gold  rush  there. 

In  1 84 1  the  first  attempt  to  organize  the  government  was  made.  In 
1 843  an  executive  committee  framed  an  organic  law  which  the  settlers 
drafted,  and  this  formed  the  basis  of  a  provisional  government  until  1  848, 
when  Congress  created  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  which  comprised  all  the 
United  States  west  of  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  north  of 
42°  parallel, 

To  encourage  immigration,  in  1850  Congress  passed  the  "donation 
law,"  giving  to  every  man  who  settled  there  before  December  first  of  that 
year  320  acres  of  land,  and  to  his  wife  a  like  number;  also  to  every  man 
and  his  wife  who  settled  on  such  land  between  December  1,  1850,  and 
December  1.  1853,  160  acres  of  land  each.  Under  this  law  8,000 
claims  were  registered  in  Oregon. 

Settlers  in  Oregon  and  in  Washington  territory  in  1855  suffered  much 
from  Indians,  who  went  in  bands  to  murder  and  plunder  the  white  people. 
The  savages  were  so  well  organized  at  one  time  that  it  was  thought  the 
white  settlers  would  be  compelled  to  abandon  the  country.  Major  General 
Wool,  stationed  at  San  Francisco,  went  to  Portland,  Oregon,  and  there 
organized  the  campaign  against  the  Indians.  The  latter  had  formed  a 
powerful  combination,  but  Wool  brought  hostilities  to  a  close  during  the 
summer  of  1  856.  The  bad  conduct  of  Indian  agents  and  possibly  encour- 
agement given  the  Indians  by  employes  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  were 
the  original  causes  of  the  trouble. 

Within  the  memory  of  thousands  of  residents  of  the  Northwest,  Central 
Oregon,  150  by  300  miles  in  extent,  as  large  as  the  State  of  New  York, 
was  solely  the  home  and  hunting  grounds  of  Indian  tribes.  Only  37  years 
ago  an  Indian  war  was  fought  in  the  southern  part  of  that  territory  now  to 
soon  be  heavily  populated. 

By  act  of  February  1  4,  1  859,  Oregon  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
a  State,  with  its  present  limits. 

Central  Oregon  has  been  comparatively  unknown,  for  no  railways  have 
heretofore  penetrated  it.  It  has  great  areas  of  pine  forests,  farm  lands,  un- 
touched precious  metals  and  water  powers  equal  to  hundreds,  of  Niagaras 
combined.  Oil  and  coal,  too,  are  there  for  the  taking.  The  history  of  the 
Willamette  Valley  is  sure  to  be  repeated  here,  with  the  certain  result  of  soon 
doubling  the  population  and  business  of  the  State.  Central  Oregon  has 

49 


single  counties  larger  than  a  combination  of  some  Eastern  States.  The 
timber  belt  along  the  Deschutes  River  covers  10,000  square  miles,  nearly 
one-half  owned  by  the  Weyerhauser  interests,  and  the  balance  by  the 
Government. 

The  Willamette  Valley  is  not  yet  out  of  the  grain  business.  The  Sain 
ranch  in  Washington  County  yielded  last  year  1  1  7  bushels  of  oats  per  acre 
from  a  field  of  37  acres.  Grain  growing  in  the  valley  has  not  been  les- 
sened by  reason  of  any  deterioration  of  soil  or  climate,  but  only  because  the 
land  is  becoming  too  valuable  to  be  confined  to  grain. 

The  lumber  shipments  last  year  were  nearly  47  million  feet  in  excess  of 
those  of  1909.  The  value  of  the  product  was  $6,133,204. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  when  Lewis  and  Clark  outfitted  at  St.  Louis 
for  their  exploration  they  set  a  pace  for  enterprise  in  the  use  of  matches 
which  was  significant  of  their  progressive  ideas.  At  that  time  when  all  the 
rest  of  the  world  depended  on  flint  and  steel  Dr.  Saugrain  supplied  the  first 
matches,  which  were  sulphur  splints  of  wood,  which  were  ignited  by  dipping 
them  into  phosphorus,  which  the  ingenious  doctor  supplied  in  small  tin  boxes. 
Lewis  and  Clark  struck  these  matches  on  the  Columbia  River  a  generation 
before  Boston  or  London  made  use  of  the  secret.  It  is  recorded  that  Clark 
was  frequently  able  to  get  supplies  from  the  Indians  on  the  return  of  the 
expedition  when  passing  the  Multnomah,  near  where  Portland  now  is,  by 
striking  a  match  when  the  occasion  served,  which  the  Indians  considered 
as  an  evidence  of  his  supernatural  powers.  The  story  has  it  that  Clark 
entered  an  Indian  tepee  to  buy  wapato.  "Not,  not!"  With  sullen  looks, 
the  Indians  shook  their  heads.  No  gift  of  his  could  buy  the  precious  wapato. 
Deliberately  then,  the  captain  took  out  one  of  Dr.  Saugrain's  sulphur  matches 
and  dipped  it  in  the  phosphorus.  Instantly  it  spat  and  flamed.  "Me-sah- 
chie!  Me-sah-chie !"  the  Indians  shrieked,  and  piled  the  cherished  wapato  at 
his  feet.  The  screaming  children  fled  behind  the  beds  and  hid  behind  the 
men.  An  old  man  began  to  speak  with  great  vehemence,  imploring  his  god 
for  protection.  The  matched  burned  out,  and  quiet  was  restored.  Clark 
paid  for  the  wapato,  smoked,  and  went  on. 

The  Dalles  derived  its  name  from  the  great  trough,  or  narrows  in  the 
Columbia  River,  about  five  miles  above,  which  the  early  French-Canadian 
voyageurs  in  the  employ  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  called  "Le  Grande 
Dall  de  la  Columbia." 

The  Methodist  missionaries,  Reverends  Lee  and  Perkins,  established  here 
in  1838  a  mission  to  the  Indians,  which  continued  until  1847,  called 
"Dalls"  or  "Wascopum."  "Perkins  House,"  as  the  Indians  called  the 
mission,  was  the  home  of  the  first  white  women  and  children  between  the 
Willamette  and  Walla  Walla  valleys.  The  Catholic  mission  was  estab- 

50 


lished  in  1 848.  In  1 850  a  military  post,  called  Fort  Dalles,  was  established 
by  the  Rifle  Regiment  as  a  supply  station  and  a  guard  to  the  old  emigrant 
road.  After  the  building  of  the  post  the  town  came  into  existence  known 
as  "The  Landing,"  and  became  an  organization  in  1855  as  Dalles  City. 
The  gold  discoveries  in  eastern  Washington  in  1855,  in  Idaho  in  1857  and 
in  Oregon  on  the  Powder  River  in  1861,  attracted  thousands,  all  of  whom 
had  to  pass  through  The  Dalles,  which  was  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
Columbia  River  and  the  gateway  to  the  "Inland  Empire,"  then  as  now.  The 
"bunch"  grass  plains  became  a  great  pasture,  and  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep 
roamed  over  a  thousand  hills.  The  Dalles  was  a  cattle  market  and  for  years 
was  the  heaviest  shipping  point  for  raw  wool  in  the  world.  About  1875 
the  pastoral  age  gave  way  to  the  grain  fields,  which  supplanted  the  bunch 
grass,  and  now  is  the  day  of  the  diversified  small  farms  and  of  fruit  culture. 

The  salmon,  fruit,  and  lumber  interests  alone  of  Oregon  are  enough  to 
support  a  large  population.  There  is  now  in  this  State  merchantable  tim- 
ber valued  at  $500,000,000  as  it  stands,  which  at  the  present  rate  of 
cutting  will  last  one  hundred  and  twenty  years.  The  State  Board  of  For- 
estry estimates  the  value  of  this  made  into  lumber  as  a  sum  in  excess  of  the 
total  amount  of  money  in  circulation  in  the  United  States  at  present.  Ore- 
gon has  1 80  fire  wardens,  and  has  made  great  progress  in  recent  years 
in  fighting  fires  and  eliminating  wasteful  methods  of  lumbering. 

Oregon  produces  more  than  one-third  of  the  hops  grown  in  the  United 
States. 

The  Chinook  salmon  of  the  Columbia  River  are  conceded  to  be  equal 
to  the  finest  in  the  world. 

The  State's  agricultural  products  last  year  aggregated  about  $115,- 
000,000. 

In  Eagle  Valley,  Baker  County,  plans  have  been  provided  by  the 
Eastern  Oregon  Irrigation  Company  for  the  reclamation  of  30,000 
acres  under  the  Carey  Act.  This  project  is  of  special  interest  because 
it  is  based  on  the  experience  in  Idaho,  in  which  State  the  Carey  Act  has 
found  its  widest  application  and  development,  and  has  there  been  made 
to  apply  to  upwards  of  2,000,000  acres,  and  more  than  15,000  miles  of 
canals  or  irrigating  ditches  have  been  built. 

Under  this  act  the  title  to  the  land  is  released  by  the  United  States 
Government  to  the  State  of  Oregon  and  is  then  sold  by  the  State  to  settlers 
at  the  uniform  price  of  $  1  an  acre,  each  purchaser  being  obliged  at  the  time 
he  buys  the  land  to  contract  with  the  irrigation  company  for  the  purchase 
of  a  water  right  for  his  land.  The  soil  in  Eagle  Valley  is  a  decomposed 
lava  ash,  semi-basaltic  in  character,  with  a  little  clay,  making  it  ideal  fruit 
soil.  The  finest  crops  are  raised  on  the  side-hill  lands,  the  slope  being  fairly 

Si 


steep  in  many  of  the  best  orchards.  The  highest  grade  of  canteloupes  and 
watermelons  grow  at  the  mouth  of  this  valley,  along  the  Snake  River  near 
Robinett  and  Brownlee. 

The  plan  of  using  uncleared  land  for  setting  out  walnut  groves  and  let- 
ting goats  clear  the  land  while  the  trees  mature  is  also  being  tried.  Near 
Albany  a  four  hundred  acre  walnut  orchard  has  recently  been  started. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1  843  A.  M.  Overton  and  A.  L.  Lovejoy,  residents 
of  Oregon  City,  on  their  way  home  from  Vancouver,  Washn.,  pitched  their 
tent  under  the  pine  trees  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Willamette  River.  The 
next  day  they  projected  a  town  on  the  site  of  their  camp.  Within  a  few 
months  a  clearing  was  made  and  a  log  cabin  built.  From  this  grew  the 
city  of  Portland.  In  1  848  Oregon  City  was  the  metropolis  and  Portland 
(up  to  1849  known  as  "Stumptown")  was  only  "a  place  twelve  miles 
from  Oregon  City." 

Lovejoy  and  Pettygrove  put  up  the  first  business  building,  known  as  the 
"shingle  store,"  on  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Front  and  Washington  streets. 
Lovejoy  was  from  Boston  and  Pettygrove  from  Maine.  They  tossed  a 
coin  for  choice  of  name,  "Boston"  or  "Portland,"  and  Pettygrove  won. 
A  little  later  the  townsite  passed  into  the  hands  of  Dan'l  Lounsbury,  Stephen 
Coffin,  W.  W.  Chapman,  and  Benjamin  Stark. 

From  that  humble  start  has  grown  a  city,  with  a  present  population  of 
about  a  quarter  of  a  million,  which  is  growing  at  a  rate  exceeded  by  but 
four  others  in  the  United  States — New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  and 
Los  Angeles.  Portland  advanced  from  the  twelfth  place  in  1 909  in  volume 
of  building  operations  to  the  fifth  position,  climbing  over  the  heads  of  both 
San  Francisco  and  Seattle,  its  aggregate  being  $20,604,957.  New  York 
of  course  leads,  with  the  astonishing  total  of  $188,789,345,  while  Los 
Angeles  is  fourth,  with  $2 1 ,684, 1  00.  Portland's  percentage  of  gain  was 
53  over  1909. 

It  now  has  68 1  manufactories  and  an  annual  payroll  of  about  $  1  0,000,- 
000.  Of  these  the  flouring  mills  produced  nearly  $4,000,000. 

Portland  now  appears  to  be  entering  a  new  career  by  the  near  completion 
of  projects  which  should  place  the  city  in  rank  with  the  historic  commercial 
ports  of  the  world.  These  are  the  Thirty-foot  Channel  from  Portland  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River ;  the  Forty-foot  Channel  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  and  the  Celilo  Canal,  all  of  which  will  doubtless  be  completed 
in  1913,  and  will  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  city's  growth.  Portland 
has  river  steamship  transportation  of  700  miles;  potential  river  transportation 
of  2,1  36  miles,  and  water-grade  railway  connections  established  with  Eastern 
Oregon. 

On  the  one  side  the  city  has  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Columbia  River, 

52 


and  on  the  other  railroads  passing  through  the  mountains  on  a  water  grade 
to  all  parts  of  the  interior. 

The  city  is  the  center  of  the  meat  packing  interests,  its  transactions  at  the 
stock  yards  in  1910  aggregating  $8,500,000. 

The  lumber  trade  has  expanded  enormously,  and  is  now  its  largest  single 
industry. 

During  1910  Portland  shipped  more  wheat  than  any  other  port  in  the 
United  States. 

In  beauty  of  location  and  scenic  surroundings  the  city  can  scarcely  be 
equaled. 

Portland,  per  capita,  has  long  been  among  the  wealthiest  cities  of  the 
United  States. 

The  States  of  Oregon  and  Washington  contain  one-third  of  the  available 
water  power  energy  in  the  United  States  and  between  six  and  seven  million 
horse-power  can  be  generated  in  the  two  States,  according  to  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey. 

President  Elliott,  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  predicts  an  annual 
production  in  the  Pacific  Northwest  within  a  short  time  of  100,000  cars 
of  apples. 

Oregon's  population  increased  62.7  per  cent,  from  1900  to  1910. 


53 


UTAH 

The  first  white  men  to  visit  the  Utah  region,  so  far  as  known,  were  a 
small  party  of  Spaniards,  soldiers  in  the  army  of  Coronado,  the  explorer  of 
New  Mexico.  He  was  at  Cibola  (now  Zuni)  in  1850,  and  hearing  of 
a  great  river  to  the  northwest,  sent  Captain  Cardenas  with  twelve  men  to 
explore  it.  That  river  was  the  Colorado.  Cardenas  came  to  the  south 
bank  just  within  the  present  southern  boundary  of  Utah.  The  next  visitors 
were  two  Franciscan  friars,  Father  Escalante  and  Father  Dominguez,  who 
started  from  Santa  Fe  with  seven  men  in  July,  1  776,  to  find  a  direct  route 
to  Monterey  on  the  California  sea  coast.  They  crossed  the  Wasatch 
Mountains  and  followed  the  Provo  River  to  Utah  Lake,  where  they  were 
received  by  the  native  "Yutas,"  and  were  told  of  a  valley  to  the  northward, 
in  which  was  a  large  salt  lake.  They  visited  the  valley  in  the  southwest 
which  now  bears  the  name  of  Escalante,  and  then  returned  to  Santa  Fe. 
An  expedition  headed  by  John  C.  Fremont  and  Kit  Carson  reached  the 
Great  Salt  Lake  in  1843.  There  were  many  other  ezirly  visitors  to  this 
region,  but  it  remained  for  a  small  party  of  Mormons,  led  by  Brigham  Young, 
in  1847,  to  accomplish  the  enduring  work  of  settlement  and  development. 
They  pitched  tents  and  corraled  their  wagons  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
Salt  Lake  Valley,  their  first  camp  being  about  where  the  Salt  Lake  City 
and  County  Building  now  stands.  The  first  ploughing  done  was  within  an 
area  now  between  the  Deseret  National  Bank  and  the  Hotel  Knutsford. 
To  make  the  ploughing  easier  in  the  sun-baked  soil,  dams  were  placed  in  the 
City  Creek,  and  the  ground  flooded.  This  was  the  beginning  of  irrigation — 
at  least  by  white  men — in  arid  America.  In  September,  1848,  2,500  more 
immigrants  arrived.  Great  Salt  Lake  City  (which  was  the  original  name 
of  the  town)  was  laid  out  in  August,  1  847,  the  plan  being  a  perfect  square, 
each  block  containing  ten  acres,  with  streets  eight  rods  wide.  On  the  out- 
skirts fields  of  five,  ten  and  twenty  acres  were  laid  out,  and  the  planting  of 
trees  encouraged.  Each  head  of  a  family  was  given  a  city  lot  of  an  acre 
and  a  quarter  in  addition  to  one  of  the  fields,  with  enough  water  to  irrigate 
his  land.  The  Organic  Act  creating  the  Territory  of  Utah  was  signed  by 
President  Millard  Fillmore  on  September  9,  1850.  The  news,  however, 
did  not  reach  Salt  Lake  City  until  late  in  January,  1  85 1 .  The  first  Dele- 
gate to  Congress  chosen  was  Doctor  John  B.  Bernhisel.  In  February,  1853, 
ground  was  broken  for  the  Salt  Lake  Temple,  which  was  destined  to  cost 
over  $2,000,000,  and  to  require  forty  years  for  its  completion.  Until  the 

54 


coming  of  the  railroad  every  stone  that  went  into  its  construction  was  hauled 
a  long  distance  by  wagons. 

The  Tabernacle  is  of  unique  construction,  with  oval  top,  250  feet  long 
and  150  feet  wide,  and  a  seating  capacity  of  8,000.  Its  acoustics  are 
surprising,  as  a  pin  dropped  at  one  end  of  its  gallery  can  be  heard  distinctly 
at  the  other  end.  It  contains  one  of  the  largest  pipe  organs  in  America, 
made  entirely  of  native  timber,  and  built  by  native  artisans. 

Brigham  Young,  the  first  Governor  of  Utah,  had  foresight,  and  not  only 
laid  the  foundation  of  an  inland  empire  in  what  was  originally  a  desert,  but 
also  as  far  back  as  1847  marked  out  a  route  in  the  Valley  of  the  Platte 
which  he  predicted  would  one  day  be  followed  by  a  railroad.  Much  of 
the  track  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  now  lies  along  that  route. 

The  organization  of  the  Mormon  Community  was  a  feat  which  historians 
recognize  as  extraordinary,  and  one  which  differs  from  the  Dowie  class 
because  Mormonism  has  endured,  and  is  to-day  a  growing  power  to  be 
reckoned  with.  The  Mormon  organization  has  so  far  proved  a  vital  and 
persistent  piece  of  statesmanship. 

Utah  produced,  in  1909,  from  its  mines,  farms  and  manufactories,  mar- 
ketable materials  valued  at  over  $132,000,000.  The  reports  from  the 
National  Agricultural  Department  give  its  farms  a  productiveness  as  great 
in  some  crops  as  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  Eighty-four  bushels  of 
wheat  were  raised  to  the  acre  on  a  farm  near  Salt  Lake  City,  and  on  an- 
other farm  an  average  of  96  bushels  of  oats  to  an  acre  were  raised  on  a 
20-acre  tract.  The  productiveness  of  the  farms  makes  the  cultivation  of 
small  acreage  most  profitable.  Woman  suffrage  was  granted  in  Utah 
in  1896. 

Utah's  population,  as  shown  by  the  last  census,  is  373,351,  an  increase 
of  34.9  per  cent,  over  1900.  The  population  of  Ogden  is  given  as  25,580, 
an  increase  of  56.8  per  cent,  in  ten  years. 


55 


WASHINGTON 

In  addition  to  their  other  numerous  explorations,  Lewis  and  Clark  en- 
tered the  territory  of  Washington  October  7,  1805,  at  what  is  now  Lew- 
iston,  Idaho,  and  twenty-five  years  later  the  first  school  in  the  Northwest 
was  opened  at  Fort  Vancouver. 

In  the  four  irrigated  counties  of  central  Washington:  Yakima,  Benton, 
Kittitas,  and  Franklin,  fully  $7,000,000  were  spent  in  1910  on  improve- 
ments. Never  before  has  there  been  such  a  record  for  a  year  in  these 
counties,  and  in  them,  in  every  city  or  town,  rapid  advancement  has  been 
made. 

The  Yakima  River-  and  Valley  together  constitute  one  of  the  greatest 
irrigation  projects  in  the  country.  The  Government  is  now  engaged  in 
conserving  the  waters  of  four  large  lakes  in  the  Cascade  range  that  form  the 
sources  of  this  stream,  to  increase  the  supply  for  irrigation.  It  is  thus  re- 
claiming a  half  million  acres  of  land  and  the  total  cost  of  dams,  canals,  and 
appurtenances  will  aggregate  over  $15,000,000. 

Strange  tales  are  told  in  connection  with  the  enterprising  real  estate  agents 
of  some  of  the  new  towns  of  Washington.  One  exaggerated  story  is  told 
of  a  farmer  who  decided  to  trade  his  farm  for  a  bunch  of  town  lots. 
He  went  into  town,  saw  a  real  estate  agent,  and  arranged  a  trade.  The 
agent  hitched  up  and  drove  the  farmer  out  to  see  the  lots.  When  they 
arrived  at  the  destination  the  farmer  looked  over  the  lots  and  made  no 
comment. 

"Now,  then,"  said  the  agent,  assuming  the  trade  to  be  made,  "let's 
drive  to  your  farm.  Where  is  it?" 

"Oh,"  replied  the  farmer,  "we  passed  that  about  a  mile  back,  coming 
out  here." 

In  1  889  the  greater  part  of  the  business  section  of  Seattle  burned  with  a 
loss  of  about  twelve  millions. 

Twenty  years  ago  Seattle  was  an  unpretentious  town,  and  was  but 
a  small  seaport  when  the  Alaskan  gold  strikes  were  made.  It  looks  now  as 
if  its  population  of  237,194  (as  per  the  last  census)  will  be  doubled 
in  less  than  ten  years.  That  is  a  mild  rendering  of  the  general  belief  of 
Seattle  people.  Seattle,  like  Rome,  is  built  on  seven  hills  and  a  few  more, 
but  its  people  were  not  satisfied  with  their  uplift,  and  the  city  engineer, 
R.  H.  Thompson,  of  national  reputation,  devised  a  plan  to  level  the 
hills.  They  are  being  washed  by  hydraulic  water  system  into  the  bay, 
the  project  being  known  as  the  regrade  system,  and  paid  for  by  the 

56 


property  owners  on  the  principle  that  their  property  is  being  enhanced 
in  value.  At  first  many  owners  refused  to  enter  into  the  scheme,  but 
as  the  hills  were  washed  from  beneath  their  neighbors,  leaving  the  homes 
of  the  obdurate  ones  standing  high  in  the  air,  all  gradually  accepted  the 
unusual  conditions  that  were  forced  on  them. 

The  bank  deposits  in  Seattle  increased  $4,000,000  last  year,  and 
the  Alaskan  trade  contributed  its  full  share  toward  maintaining  the  pros- 
perity of  the  city. 

The  salmon  and  halibut  industries,  both  important  to  Seattle,  have 
had  the  most  prosperous  year  on  record.  The  wheat  crop  of  the  State 
was  about  65  per  cent,  of  normal,  while  the  apple  crop  was  the  largest 
ever  harvested,  consisting  of  nearly  four  million  boxes,  valued  at  about 
$14,000,000.  As  a  whole,  the  farmers  are  the  most  prosperous  and 
wealthy  class  in  the  State. 

In  volume  of  building  operations,  last  year  Seattle  stood  eighth  in  the 
United  States,  with  values  of  $14,449,110. 

Nearly  1 3,000  carloads  of  fruit  last  season  in  Washington  was  the 
estimate  of  agents  of  the  Great  Northern,  Northern  Pacific,  and  Milwau- 
kee railroads,  made  in  order  to  apportion  cars  during  the  summer.  The 
crop  of  apples  required  6,000  cars,  and  3,000  for  peaches  and  pears. 

Spokane,  to  which  1 50,000  square  miles  in  eastern  Washington, 
northern  Idaho,  western  Montana  and  northeastern  Oregon  are  largely 
tributary,  is  a  city  of  strategic  position,  and  is  probably  destined  to 
become  one  of  the  chief  distributing  points  of  the  Northwest.  It  is  likely 
to  reach  the  half  million  mark  in  population  in  less  than  two  decades, 
for  it  is  not  dependent  upon  any  one  industry,  as  the  raw  materials  in 
quantity,  quality  and  variety  are  within  1 50  miles  of  its  doors. 

The  city  has  an  interesting  if  brief  history.  The  first  settlement  was 
made  in  the  summer  of  1 872,  when  a  few  pioneers  gathered  at  the  site 
of  Spokane  Falls,  after  which  the  village  was  named.  Earlier  it  was 
the  home  of  the  trapper  and  hunter,  who  sold  their  pelts  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  the  Astors,  which  in  turn  maintained  the  Spokane 
House,  before  the  Oregon  country  became  part  of  the  United  States. 
Four  years  later  the  first  saw  and  grist  mill  was  erected,  the  waters  of 
Spokane  Falls  furnishing  the  power  to  turn  the  old-fashioned  wheel. 

The  first  banking  institution  was  organized  in  1879,  in  which  year  the 
first  newspaper  was  established.  Two  years  afterward  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway  Company  entered  from  the  west,  and  the  500  residents 
decided  to  incorporate  as  a  town.  Robert  W.  Forrest,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  was  the  first  mayor.  The  second  flour  mill  and  another 
newspaper  were  established  in  1881,  and  the  town  began  to  take  on 

57 


metropolitan  airs,  when  in  1 882  it  was  made  the  permanent  county  seat. 
The  Great  Northern  and  Union  Pacific  systems  came  in  1882-3.  After- 
ward the  county  seat  was  moved  from  Cheney  to  Spokane. 

The  first  disastrous  blaze  occurred  in  1 883,  and  was  followed  in  the 
summer  of  1889,  by  a  fire  which  wiped  out  30  blocks  in  the  business 
district,  occasioning  losses  aggregating  more  than  $5,000,000.  It  was 
the  first  real  test,  but  the  work  of  rebuilding  was  promptly  begun,  the 
fire  limits  were  extended,  and  the  city  council  enforced  an  ordinance 
prohibiting  the  erection  of  wooden  structures  within  the  boundary  es- 
tablished. 

Much  has  been  written  of  the  derivation  of  the  word  Spokane,  pro- 
nounced "Spo-kan,"  but  little  is  definitely  known.  It  is  believed  the 
word  is  from  the  language  of  the  Indians,  who  formerly  hunted  and 
fished  on  what  is  now  the  site  of  the  city.  Even  the  early  interpreters 
of  the  language  are  at  variance  in  their  understanding  of  the  meaning  of 
the  word  Spokane.  An  early  writer  says  that  the  chief  of  the  tribe 
is  known  as  "Illim-Spokane,"  which  means  "Son  of  the  Sun."  From 
this  and  from  the  nature  of  the  country,  being  more  open  and  having 
more  sunshine  than  that  of  the  Colvilles,  inhabiting  the  valleys  of  the  north, 
or  of  the  Coeur  d'  Alenes,  whose  hunting  grounds  were  in  the  mountains 
and  foothills  to  the  east,  the  tribal  name  is  interpreted  to  mean  "Children 
of  the  Sun." 

Spokane  is  pronounced  "Spokan"  by  the  Indians,  and  means  "wheat." 
A  literal  interpretation  of  Spokane  is,  "the  man  who  lives  in  the  country 
which  grows  the  wheat,"  to  distinguish  the  Spokanes  from  the  Col- 
villes, Coeur  d'  Alenes,  Nez  Perces,  and  other  tribes  who  inhabited  the 
districts  in  which  wild  game  abounded.  They  also  have  a  word,  pro- 
nounced, "Spo-kan-ee,"  which  means  "the  sun."  From  the  words, 
"Spokan"  and  "Spo-kan-ee,"  the  early  settlers  evolved  the  name  Spokane, 
which  was  given  to  the  Indians  as  a  tribal  name.  The  original  tribal 
name  of  the  Spokane  Indians  is  "Sin-co-mahn-nah,"  the  meaning  of 
which  has  long  been  lost. 

Tributary  to  Spokane  is  a  great  timber  belt,  which  includes  the  largest 
stand  of  white  pine  left  intact  on  this  continent.  Within  the  same  limits 
are  the  richest  silver-lead  mines  in  the  world,  comprising  the  famous 
Coeur  d'  Alenes,  which  produce  40  per  cent,  of  the  lead  output  in  the 
United  States,  besides  stretches  of  agricultural  and  orchard  lands. 

Over  1 00  miles  of  street  railways  are  in  operation  in  the  city,  and 
250  miles  of  electric  lines  extend  into  the  suburbs,  and  as  far  east  as 
Coeur  d'  Alene  and  Hayden  Lake,  Idaho,  south  to  Palouse  and  Colfax, 
Wash.,  and  Moscow,  Idaho,  and  west  to  Cheney  and  Medical  Lake, 

s8 


Wash.  Six  transcontinental  lines  pass  through  Spokane,  including  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  Puget  Sound,  which  is  completing  its  con- 
struction work  in  Washington. 

More  than  1  50,000  horsepower  electrical  energy  is  developed  in  and 
near  Spokane,  and  there  is  at  least  500,000  horsepower  available  and 
undeveloped. 

The  census  gives  the  city's  population  as  104,402,  showing  an  in- 
crease of  183.3  per  cent,  in  ten  years. 

Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  and  his  wife,  Narcissa  Whitman,  arrived  in 
the  Walla  Walla  Valley,  near  the  present  city  of  Walla  Walla,  August 
31,  1836,  from  the  State  of  New  York,  having  come  as  far  as  Fort 
Boise  in  a  wagon,  the  first  wagon  to  make  the  trip  over  the  Continental 
Divide. 

Dr.  Whitman  was  a  physician,  his  professional  skill  serving  greatly  in 
the  enterprise  in  which  he  was  engaged — that  of  establishing  a  mission 
station  among  the  Cayuse  Indians.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  his  was 
the  first  mission  and  the  first  American  home  in  all  that  vast  region  be- 
tween the  Missouri  River  and  the  Cascade  Mountains. 

In  the  winter  of  1842-43  Whitman  made  his  historic  ride  across 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  while  in  the  East  visited  the  National  Capital, 
enlisted  the  cooperation  of  the  President,  and,  returning  in  the  summer 
of  1 843,  led  the  first  large  immigration  of  Americans.  This  settled  the 
struggle  between  England  and  the  United  States  for  control  of  the 
"Oregon  Country,"  comprising  the  present  States  of  Oregon,  Washing- 
ton and  Idaho,  with  portions  of  Wyoming  and  Montana,  and  in  1846, 
the  British  claims  were  ceded,  to  become  one  of  the  richest  corners  of  our 
domain. 

But  Whitman's  work,  though  great,  was  brief.  On  November  29, 
1847,  he,  with  his  wife  and  twelve  men,  who  were  connected  in  various 
ways  with  the  mission,  were  murdered  by  the  Indians. 

The  Palouse  Country  (from  the  French  "Peloose,"  meaning  grassy 
sward)  is  a  garden  spot  of  2,500  square  miles,  where  Nature  has  pro- 
vided ideal  climate  and  soil.  It  includes  the  southern  portion  of  Spokane 
County,  with  its  luxuriant  orchards,  Whitman  County  comprising  nearly 
1,200,000  acres;  Latah  County,  with  an  area  of  900  square  miles, 
and  the  western  portion  of  what  was  formerly  the  Coeur  d'  Alene  Indian 
Reservation.  The  soil  is  basaltic  ash,  which  is  easily  worked,  and 
practically  inexhaustible.  This  rich  section  produces  over  25,000,000 
bushels  of  grain  annually,  and  many  millions  more  in  orchard  and  live  stock 
products. 

The  city  of  Walla  Walla  is  the   center  of  an   area   of  great  fertility. 

59 


Walla  Walla  means,  in  the  Indian  tongue,  the  place  of  "Many  Waters," 
and  such,  in  fact,  the  valley  is.  For  half  a  century  it  has  been  famed 
as  an  orchard  district,  the  soil  being  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  growing 
of  apples  and  other  fruits. 

A  peculiarly  unexpected  condition  is  its  winter  climate,  which,  al- 
though in  the  latitude  of  northern  Maine  and  Montreal,  is  much  like 
that  of  Virginia. 

Walla  Walla  is  derived  from  the  "Wallawollahs,"  as  a  tribe  of 
Indians  were  formerly  known.  In  several  of  the  native  dialects  "Walla" 
means  "running  water,"  and  when  the  word  is  repeated  it  diminishes 
the  size  of  the  object,  so  that  Walla  Walla  means  "Little  running 
water." 

In  Washington  last  year,  by  a  heavy  majority,  women  were  given 
the  right  of  suffrage. 

It  was  at  first  believed  that  Oklahoma's  growth  of  866,764,  with 
a  percentage  of  increase  of  109.7,  as  shown  by  the  last  census,  was 
unapproachable,  until  Washington's  gain  of  1 20.4  was  announced. 
This  easily  leads  all  the  rest  of  the  States. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  in  the  character  and  intelligence  of  the 
people  lie  the  strength  and  perpetuity  of  the  State,  and  those  qualities 
have  helped  to  bring  Washington  to  its  present  commanding  position. 


60 


WYOMING 

Wyoming  is  350  miles  long  and  210  miles  wide,  and  covers  an 
area  as  great  as  that  of  the  combined  New  England  States,  New  Jersey, 
Delaware  and  Maryland.  But  10  per  cent,  of  it  is  irrigated,  although 
it  is  well  netted  with  rivers.  It  has  been  termed  the  "peak  of  the 
continent,"  for  from  its  mountain  ranges  three  rivers  drain  in  three 
directions;  the  Missouri  flows  to  the  east,  the  Columbia  directly  west  to 
the  Pacific,  and  the  Big  Horn  southwest  to  the  Gulf  of  California. 

Within  its  borders  is  contained  a  large  part  of  the  Yellowstone  Na- 
tional Park. 

The  climate  of  the  State  is  much  more  even  than  that  of  a  similar 
latitude  in  the  East.  The  summers  are  dry,  without  intense  heat.  The 
winter  air  is  exhilarating,  and  serves  as  a  tonic  for  health  and  happiness 
in  a  way  that  is  not  known  under  duller  skies.  Its  Hot  Springs  are  said 
to  at  least  equal  in  virtue  those  of  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  and  have 
been  termed  the  Carlsbad  Springs  of  America. 

Cheyenne,  "The  Magic  City,"  the  metropolis  and  capital  of  Wyoming 
and  the  capital  of  Larimer  County,  is  the  financial  and  commercial  center 
of  the  State,  and  is  located  at  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  is 
one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  west,  and  the  largest  in  the  State. 

Sheridan  is  one  of  the  growing  cities  and  expended  in  1910  over 
$500,000  for  improvements. 

The  Shoshone  dam  in  Wyoming — the  highest  water  barrier  of  ma- 
sonry in  the  world — is  a  wedge  of  concrete  stuck  in  a  gorge.  The  gorge 
is  2,000  feet  deep,  and  eight  miles  long.  The  dam  is  328  1  /2  feet 
high  and  200  feet  wide  at  the  top.  According  to  the  geologists  it  took 
millions  of  years  to  cut  the  gorge  through  2,000  feet  of  solid  rock.  The 
dam  backs  up  the  Shoshone  River  into  the  mountains,  forming  a  lake 
equivalent  in  area  to  ten  square  miles,  fed  by  a  watershed  that  contains 
1,380  square  miles.  The  average  depth  of  this  great  reservoir  is  70  feet, 
and  is  estimated  to  hold  sufficient  water  to  reclaim  1  32,000  acres  of  dry 
land,  increasing  its  value  from  $3  an  acre  to  a  price  ranging  from  $50 
to  $150.  The  annual  rainfall  in  Wyoming  is  from  8  to  1  5  inches. 

The  "Equality  State,"  as  Wyoming  is  called,  was  first  to  adopt 
woman's  suffrage  in  1869.  It  increased  57.7  per  cent,  in  population  from 
1900  to  1910. 


